Is Bard Japanese or Shinto based?

Shrines, luminous spirits, a very nonthreatening appearance; I would venture a guess and say yes.

Shinto==Japanese btw

Shinto is largely Japanese. Ask a Japanese what it means to be Shinto, they will say "to be Shinto is to be Japanese." It is a cultural indentity, and not a religious one.

A philosopher once said, and I believe it to be true, myself a philosophy major and currently living in Japan: "The Japanese are born Shinto, live a Confucian life, and die a Buddhist death."

Bard is Ghibli bassed

He is has a very interesting new visual direction. He reminds me a little bit of both Bloodline Champions' and Dawngate's aesthetics.