Japanese Religion

Japan has a fascinating religious history, and the current practices are equally intriguing. Religions in Japan are not exclusive of each other.  Often, a person will adhere to several beliefs at once.

The Main Religions of Japan (A very mini course)

Shinto -The word "shinto" means "way of the Gods", and this is the indigenous religion of Japan. There is no founder, and does not have a cannon.  It isn't a religion in the sense that a person cannot convert to it.  This is a "religion" that grew out of an awe of nature, like the sun, water, trees, even sounds. All of these manifestations are felt to have their own god called a Kami. Shrines were/are erected on sacred nature spots.  It is important to purify oneself before entering a Shinto shrine.  The myths of the origin of Japan are part of Shintoism. Until 1945, Shinto belief dictated that the emperor was a kami, or divine being. When Emperor Hirohito surrendered Japan in WWII, he also stunned his subjects by renouncing any claim to being a divine being.  I think this must have been a relief to finally say this publically. As a child, Hirohito was nearsided, and had to wear glasses.  His handlers would not let him wear glasses in public because he was supposed to be divine, and therefore perfect.
Shintoism has many rites and festivals.  My favorite is the retirement of used pins and needles!  I am not kidding!  I actually went to this festival. Almost all weddings take place in Shinto temples, while funerals are almost always Buddhist. (An excellent Japanese move, The Cellist, deals with how modern Japanese view death.  It is a wonderful movie with English subtitles.)

Here is a bride getting ready for her wedding at the Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine in Tokyo.  The white robe is worn to keep her wedding kimono clean.  To get this picture, I had to get a bit sneaky, as most of the public does not see this.

Here a couple have completed their wedding vows by taking a vow before the kami, in this case the late emporer Meiji, and his wife Shokan.  He died in 1912, and she in 1914.  Their souls were enshrined in the first Meiji Jinju in 1920.  The original shrine was destroyed in WWII.  The present shrine was built in the 1950s.

Buddhism - The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was born around 563 B.C. at Lumbini on the border of Nepal and India.  A prince, he left his wife and new baby to follow a holy man.  He studied under many holy men, but found himself wanting.  Finally he decided to follow his own path to enlightenment.  For 49 days he sat crosslegged under a Bodhi tree and went into deep meditation.  On the 49th/50th day he became "the enlightened one" or "awakened one". Buddha means enlightened/awakened.  Buddha did not claim to be a god, and he was clear to his disciples that he was not the only enlightened being. Like Christianity, there are various sects to Buddhism.  Unlike Christianity, Buddhism does not have a central text similar to the Bible. Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 6th century.

The Buddha in Aomori, Japan.  Aomori is a town in the north of Honshu Island, the largest of the Japanese islands.  My friend, Krista, who lived nearby at Misawa Air Base, and I went to visit this beautiful Buddhist complex.

Built in 1252, this giant Buddha is located in Kamakura, Japan, about 40 miles south of Tokyo.  You can walk inside the giant Buddha.

Krista and I found this smiling Buddha at the shop of a headstone maker.  It was Sunday, and the shop was closed.  We didn't think the owner would mind.  This could also be Hotei the God of Happiness.  He fits the description, but since we found him at the headstone carver's shop.......... 

Combining the Two - Most Japanese homes have two altars: a Shinto kamidana, shelf shrine, and a Buddhist butsudan, Buddha stand.  Often Shinto kami have been transformed into Buddhist Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings).  The assimilation of the two religions is complex, and one I can only try to guess at. 

This is a Jizo. Jizo is the patron kami to travellers, children, and expecting mothers. The red bib helps to cover the souls of dead children. Jizo helps the dead children perform their task of building walls of rocks on the banks of Sai-n0-kawara, the river of the underworld.  Believers place stones at the Jizo statues as additional help.

A cemetery near Aomori, Japan.  They have Buddhist altars.

This kamidana, according to my friend Tomoko, is for women wanting to find husbands.  So, the women leave offerings for the kami associated with love. 

Confucianism- While not a true religion, but more of a code of ethics, Confucianism entered Japan via Korea in the 5th century. The code of ethics handed down through the centuries has a direct influence on absolute loyalty (the Bushido Code of the samurai), the extreme loyalty to the emperor during WWII, the low status of women, although this is changing, and the concept of the group being more important than the individual.

Christianity - Portugese missionaries introduced Christianity in 1549.  By 1587 it was banned, and 26 Christians were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597.  All missionaries were expelled by 1614, and Japan pretty much insolated itself from the world until the 1800s.  A small number of Christian converts kept themselves alive as a kind of "backroom Buddhism".  Since there were so many Buddhist sects, why not add one more!  Japanese Christians kept faith with the Holy Virgin by creating a Buddhist diety called Maria Kannon.  Christianity never really caught on, and only about a million or so Japanese consider themselves Christian.

In most Shinto and Buddhist shrines, priest will do calligraphy in shrine books.  I have one, and have a few pages in Japanese calligraphy.  Then I moved back to Utah.  I now use this as my LDS temple book, and have pictures of the various temples in it.

Remember this is a blog, and not a dissertation.  I hope you are all clear on the above, because I am still confused!