Shinto practices and a miko’s duties?

Okay. I've been getting fairly curious about the Shinto religion in general and I've been wondering about many things concerning Shinto and its practices.

Can anyone give me a basic rundown of the Shinto religion?

What are a miko's duties?

What kinds of celebrations does a shrine host (assuming that shrines host celebrations, festivals, and ceremonies)?

What is the correct way to pay your respects to a Shinto shrine (in detail please)?

What are major do's and don't's of visiting a shrine?

What are common tradition clothing that is worn by Shinto practitioners?

What kind of priests or priestesses are there (I am unsure if there are even priests and such)?

How would one go about a Shinto shrine without offending the other visitors?

What are some major celebrations related to the Shinto religion?

Sorry if I ask a lot of you, but I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me out here. I'm going to be heading out to Yokosuka (I'm in the US Navy) soon and I would love to pin down as much about the Japanese culture as I can beforehand.

I've read as much off of Wikipedia that I could come across and they didn't have very many answers so I decided it would be better to get some answers from people who are familiar with the religion and Japanese culture. I greatly thank you all in advance.

CHSA,

Are you sure you looked into Wiki? Because most of these questions are answered there very clearly. Tell us what you couldn't understand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto#Practices

- What are a miko's duties?

Click "miko" at above.

- What kinds of celebrations does a shrine host (assuming that shrines host celebrations, festivals, and ceremonies)?

Look under "Practices."

- What is the correct way to pay your respects to a Shinto shrine (in detail please)?

Same as above.

- What are major do's and don't's of visiting a shrine?

Same as above.

- What are common tradition clothing that is worn by Shinto practitioners?

View the first link.

- What kind of priests or priestesses are there (I am unsure if there are even priests and such)?

Same as above.

- How would one go about a Shinto shrine without offending the other visitors?

Nothing special. What would you imagine?

- What are some major celebrations related to the Shinto religion?

I don't understand the question. Didn't you ask that before?

I hope you make a lot of local friends in Yokosuka and other parts of Japan!

I think these articles about Shinto in this very Japan Guide answers your questions: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2057.html

Yeah I've read the articles I guess its all more of a live and learn sort of thing. As for the offending thing, I've heard stories about some other visitors that apparently didn't do the cleaning of the hands and mouth correctly, if that makes sense. And Wikipedia just says not to spit the water you use back out. So what do you do? Swallow it? Keep it as a souvenir?

Yeah I know but Wikipedia doesn't seem to provide detailed information. Oh well. I'm only 18 so I've got a lot to learn anyway...

Ah thank you! That's more of the information I was thinking of. Strange how googling something never really give me the results I'm looking for. Thanks for that!

I've heard stories about some other visitors that apparently didn't do the cleaning of the hands and mouth correctly, if that makes sense.

Lots of people do it wrongly or not at all - some on purpose, some because they don't know the correct way.

Furthermore, there could be some local special rules that differ slightly from the general rules.

And Wikipedia just says not to spit the water you use back out. So what do you do?

Spit it out. But do not spit it back into the trough. Spit it besides it. That's what Wikipedia means.

I think that a lot of Japanese, including me, have the impression that Shinto is a pretty "loose" religion.

And it needs to be, because it's kind of like the people's religion in Japan. You sort of "live with" it rather than to "follow" it.

A lot of people goof, but the gods (there are many) are always forgiving.

Well I've traveled abroad before and tried to put up as much an effort as I could trying to learn the basics of the native culture that I was visiting. I think its respectful to learn the ways of a foreign country when you visit one. I even plan on taking a class to learn Japanese, though I can read katakana and hiragana pretty well already, I have issues with kanji.

Thank you for all of your help. Since I have no experience with the Japanese culture, I am fairly nervous about having it as a home port for the next 6 years or so. So, I wanted to learn as much as I could about Japan and its ways, which is very interesting by the way.

And Uco,

Yes I'm very certain that the Shinto religion is laid back. But I can't really give my opinion about something I don't understand. I'd rather not give my opinion about something I've yet to experience, if that makes sense. I hope my stay in Japan will be pretty smooth, as I'll be there for quite a while. And thank you for your helpful information. I appreciate it.