Not to mention the whole lunar festival! If that isn’t proof enough of east Asian influence then I don’t know what.
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The question was why specifically Shinto. East Asian generally is obvious.
We’ve seen more culinary things that are Korean than Japanese, and I’d be kind of annoyed at distinct resolution in favor of the Japanese part, given… everything. 
I’ll grant the shimenawa and the fact that some Japanese architecture is used, I don’t agree that there’s no aesthetic links to Japan at all, but they conflated a few regional things with the night elves initially.
Personal pet peeve here, so I’m probably putting this into a discussion where it wasn’t originally, but yeah.
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As a Retail Player, I tend to think of Season of Discovery and Classic as “Retail Minus”
I would hate for that lore to be too consequential.
Kaldorei druidism also use similar philosophies of nature worship as in Shinto, with their nature spirits (wisps, spirits of the wild, wild gods) and the links to Wabi-sabi (Alara’shinu for example being directly borrowed from the concept)… the henotheism with an emphasis on Elune, now tied directly to life…
In Shintoism, humans can become kami and night elf spirits essentially become them when they die, and become protectors of the wild. Night elven shrines have the same aesthetic as Shinto shrines.
Besides other obvious things like the reverence of life, sacred groves and shimenawa… one can argue the night elven concept of balance and harmony is also similar to Shinto philosophy…
That isn’t to say they don’t borrow from other places, but one can argue the same about other religions like that of trolls or draenei.
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Kaldorei arches also bear a striking resemblence Torii.
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