japan religion

8/8/2019 Japan Religion

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Shinto : meaning "the way of the gods", is Japan's indigenous religion and is practiced by approximately 51% of the population. Shinto originated in prehistoric times as a religion with a respect for nature and for particular sacred sites. Shinto worship of kami is performed at shrines. Especiallyimportant is the act of purification before visiting these shrines.

Buddhism

Buddism first arrived in Japan in the 6th century from the Southern part of the kingdom of Baekie on the Korean peninsula. The Baekje king sent theJapanese emperor a picture of the Buddha and some sutras. Japanesearistocrats built Buddhist statues and temples in the capital at Nara, and thenin the later capital at Heian (now Kyoto).

Buddhism is divided into three forms: the orthodox and impersonal Theravada Buddhism,which is prevalent in India and most of Southeast Asia; the more personal MahayanaBuddhism, which spread to China, Tibet, Vietnam, and ultimately to Korea and Japan;and Vajrayana Buddhism. From the beginning, the largest form of Buddhism in Japanwas the Mahayana school. According to the Agency of Cultural Affairs, 91 millionJapanese identify themselves as Buddhist.[11]

The six Buddhist sects initially established in Nara are today together known as "NaraBuddhism" and are relatively small. When the capital moved to Heian, more forms of Buddhism arrived from China, including the still-popular Shingon, an esoteric form of Buddhism similar to Tibet's Vajrayana Buddhism, and Tendai, a monastic conservative

form known better by its Chinese name, Tiantai.When the shogunate took power in the 12th century and the administrative capital movedto Kamakura, more forms of Buddhism arrived. The most popular was Zen, which became the most popular type of Mahayana Buddhism of the time period. Two schools of Zen were established, Rinzai and Soto; a third, baku, formed in 1661.

The Toshodaiji was an early Buddhist temple in Nara.
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Another form of Buddhism known as Jodo-kyo , or Pure Land Buddhism, arrived in theKamakura period. Pure Land Buddhism emphasizes the role of Amitabha Buddha and promises that reciting the phrase " Namu Amida Butsu " upon death will result in beingremoved by Amitabha to the "Western Paradise" or "Pure Land", and then to Nirvana.Jodo-kyo attracted the merchant and farmer classes. After Honen, Jodo-kyo's head

missionary in Japan, died, the form split into two schools: Jodo-shu , which focuses onrepeating the phrase many times, and the more liberal Jodo Shinshu , which claims thatonly saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary. Today, many Japanese adhereto Nishi Honganji-ha , a conservative sect of Jodo Shinshu.

The monk Nichiren established a more radical form of Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism,which praised the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren's teaching was revolutionary, and the shogundistrusted him; when Nichiren predicted that the Mongols would invade Japan, theshogun exiled him. Nichiren was a progressive, the first Japanese thinker to declare thatwomen could gain enlightenment. Nichiren Buddhism is the second largest Buddhist sectin Japan today. Sub-sects of Nichiren Buddhism include Nichiren-shu , Nichiren Shoshu

and Soka Gakkai , a controversial denomination whose political wing forms theconservative New Komeito Party, Japan's third largest political party.

In modern times, Japanese society has become very secular, and religion in general has become less important. However, many Japanese remain nominally Buddhist and areconnected to a local Buddhist temple, although they may not worship regularly.Buddhism remains far more popular in traditional rural areas than in modern urban areasand suburbs. For instance, while some 90% of rural households include a Buddhist altar ( Butsudan ), the rate drops to 60% or lower in urban areas.

[edit ] New religions

From left, Shin Hirata, Katsuya Takahashi, and Naoko Kikuchi were perpetrators inattacks in the Tokyo subway and belonged to the new religion Aum Shinrikyo, renamedAleph.Main article: Shinshky

Beyond the two traditional religions, a great variety of popular religious movementsexists in modern Japan. These movements are normally lumped together under the name
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" New Religions". These religions draw on concepts from Shinto, Buddhism, and folk superstition. The officially recognized new religions number in the hundreds, and totalmembership is reportedly in the tens of millions. The largest new religion is Soka Gakkai,a Buddhist sect founded in 1930, which has about 10 million members in Japan.

Many of these new religions arose as part of Shinto and retain elements of Shinto in their teachings. Some, though not all, of the new religions are considered Sect Shinto. Other new religions include Aum Shinrikyo, Gedatsu-kai, Kiriyama Mikkyo, Kofuku noKagaku, Konkokyo, Oomoto, Pana-wave laboratory, PL Kyodan, Seicho no Ie, SekaiMahikari Bunmei Kyodan, Sekai kysei ky, Shinreikyo, Sukyo Mahikari, Tenrikyo, andZenrinkyo.[citation needed ]

[edit ] Minority religions

[edit ] Bah' Faith

Main article: Bah' Faith in Japan

The Bah' Faith was brought to Japan by `Abdu'l-Bah in 1875.[12]

[edit ] Christianity

Main article: Christianity in Japan

In the year 1542, the first Europeans from Portugal landed on Kyushu in Western Japan.The two historically most important things they imported to Japan were gunpowder andChristianity, in the form of Roman Catholicism. The Japanese daimyo on Kyushuwelcomed foreign trade because of the new weapons and tolerated the Jesuitmissionaries. These missionaries were successful in converting large numbers of peoplein Western Japan, including members of the ruling class. In 1550, Francis Xavier undertook a mission to the capital, Kyoto.

Near the end of the 16th century, Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto, despite a banissued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1597, Hideyoshi proclaimed a more serious edict andexecuted 26 Franciscans in Nagasaki as a warning. Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successorscontinued the persecution of Christianity with several further edicts.

In 1873, following the Meiji restoration, the ban was rescinded, freedom of religion was promulgated, and sustained Protestant missionary work began. Today, there are around13 million Christian adherents of various denominations.[13][14] Most of them live inWestern Japan, where the missionaries' activities were greatest during the 16th century.Since World War II, the number of Japanese Christians has been slowly increasing.

A few Christian customs, including the wearing of white dresses at weddings and thecelebration of Valentine's Day and Christmas, have become popular among the non-Christian population.
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[edit ] Islam

Main article: Islam in Japan

Estimates of the Muslim population have been placed at around 115,000125,000,[15] of

which about 90% are foreign residents and the remainder are ethnic Japanese.Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Iranians make up the largest communities of foreign Muslims in Japan.

[edit ] Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Japan

Hinduism is a minority religion in Japan. There are currently 4,000 registered Hindus inthe country, about one third of whom are located in the Kansai area and living in Kobe.[citation needed ]

[edit ] Judaism

Main article: Judaism in Japan

Judaism is practiced by a small community in Japan.[16] The US Department of Stateestimates that 2,000 Jews live in Japan.[14]

[edit ] Ryukyuan Shinto

Main article: Ryukyuan Shinto

Ryukyuan Shinto is the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyuans, the people of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands. While it bears similarities to Japanese Shinto, itis distinct.

[edit ] Religious practice
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A type of traditional Shinto crown, called Ten-Kan (literally "heavenly crown"), at theOtsu Festival, Tenson Shrine.

Most Japanese participate in rituals and customs derived from several religious traditions.Life cycle events are often marked by visits to a Shinto shrine. The birth of a new baby iscelebrated with a formal shrine visit at the age of about one month, as are the third, fifth,and seventh birthdays and the official beginning of adulthood at age twenty. Weddingceremonies are often performed by Shinto priests, but Christian wedding ceremonies,called howaito uedingu ("white wedding"), are also popular. These use liturgy but are notalways presided over by an ordained priest.

Japanese funerals are usually performed by Buddhist priests, and Buddhist rites are alsocommon on death day anniversaries of deceased family members. 91% of Japanesefunerals take place according to Buddhist traditions. Some Japanese do not performancestral ceremonies at all.

There are two categories of holidays in Japan. Matsuri (festivals), which are largely of Shinto origin and relate to the cultivation of rice and the spiritual well-being of the localcommunity, and nenjy gyji (annual events), which are largely of Chinese or Buddhistorigin. During the Heian period, the matsuri were organized into a formal calendar, andother festivals were added. Very few matsuri or nencho gyo are national holidays, butthey are included in the national calendar of annual events. Most matsuri are local eventsand follow local traditions. They may be sponsored by schools, towns, or other groups but are most often associated with Shinto shrines.

Most holidays are secular in nature, but the two most significant for the majority of Japanese New Year's Day and Obon involve visits to Shinto shrines or Buddhisttemples, respectively. The New Year's holiday (January 13) is marked by the practice of numerous customs and the consumption of special foods. Visiting Shinto shrines to prayfor family blessings in the coming year, dressing in a kimono, hanging specialdecorations, eating noodles on New Year's Eve, and playing a poetry card game areamong these practices. During Obon, bon (spirit altars) are set up in front of Buddhistfamily altars, which, along with ancestral graves, are cleaned in anticipation of the returnof the spirits. People living away from their family homes return for visits with relatives.Celebrations include folk dancing and prayers at Buddhist temples as well as familyrituals in the home.

64% of Japanese weddings are done in a Christian style. They are not done under aspecific church per se but certain elements such as wearing a headdress for the bride may be used.

[edit ] Religion and law

In early Japanese history, the ruling class was responsible for performing propitiatoryrituals, which later came to be identified as Shinto, and for the introduction and support
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of Buddhism. Later, religious organization was used by regimes for political purposes;for instance, the Tokugawa government required each family to be registered as amember of a Buddhist temple for purposes of social control. In the late 19th century,rightists created State Shinto, requiring that each family belong to a shrine parish and thatthe concepts of emperor worship and a national Japanese "family" be taught in the

schools.Article 20 of the 1947 Constitution states, "Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all. Noreligious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority". Separation of religion and the state was mandated by the occupationof Japan because of the role of State Shinto in furthering Japan's military aggression inAsia before and during World War II .

[edit ] See a
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