Religion in Japan

Introduction

Japan has two main religions:  Shinto, a religion exclusive to Japan, and Buddhism. However, the Japanese people approach religion with a flexibility rarely found in the West, and Shinto and Buddhism often blend together in their lives.

The Japanese will regularly observe Shinto rituals and ceremonies, but these traditions are often seen as part of the overall Japanese culture rather than religious practice. The Japanese don't generally see themselves as religious people.

Modern Japan has also blended traditions from the West, so that a couple may celebrate Valentine's Day, enjoy a Christmas cake together, be married by a Christian minister, bless the birth of their children at a Shinto shrine, dress up for a Halloween party and eventually hold a Buddhist funeral.


Shinto & Buddhism

Unlike other religions, Shinto does not have a founder or its equivalent of a Bible or a Koran. Rather, it grew organically, beginning as a way to worship nature and evolving into a polytheistic religion represented by many gods, or deities, called kami. The word Shinto translates into "The Way of the Kami."

Some scholars say this polytheistic view of religion, deeply ingrained in the Japanese psyche, was what made Japan receptive to Buddhism some 1,500 years ago and to the different religions that find their home in Japan today.

Buddhism was introduced to Japan through Korea around 550 A.D. For the most part, Shintoism and Buddhism have coexisted peacefully and are often worshipped as one religion. Though the two religions were vastly different, they complemented each other in ways that made for a perfect fit for the Japanese culture. What Shinto lacked in terms of philosophical writings, Buddhism - the more sophisticated of the two - made up for with a complex system of thought and vast literature.


Modern Day Practices

Today, most Japanese worship a combined form of Shinto and Buddhism, while also incorporating rituals of other religions into their own lives, most notably the celebration of Valentine's Day and Christmas. As is typical when Japan adopts a foreign practice, it puts its own twist on it: On Valentine's Day in Japan, women give chocolate to men (the reverse is true for March 14, White Day, when men give women white chocolate); and on Christmas, the Japanese are fond of eating something they call Christmas cake, typically a strawberry sponge cake. Japanese are often surprised to find that this is not a typical Christmas tradition elsewhere.

Christians are a minority in Japan, and perhaps for that reason, Japanese observations of Christian holidays are largely commercially driven. In other words, Jesus takes a back seat to Santa here. It is quite common to see department stores and boulevards, especially around Tokyo, put up bright Christmas lights around the year-end, but it is rare to find private homes that do so.

Christmas and especially Christmas Eve are generally considered by non-Christians in Japan as a time to spend with a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Christmas in Japan can also mean lots of shopping and dining out.

When it comes to serious end -of -year religious observances, the Japanese turn to their roots and find solemnity in Shinto-Buddhism. The biggest religious observances of the year are during the New Year holidays, when many people visit shrines and temples, and in the summertime, typically in July and August, when families celebrate the return of the spirits of the dead in the Buddhist Obon festival. Both periods feature lots of travel as Japanese return to their hometowns, making it a difficult time for tourists to secure train and airline tickets.