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Religion in Japan

March 05, 2023

Religious believers in Japan
(CIA World Factbook)[3]
Shinto
 
 70.5%
Buddhism
 
 67.2%
Christianity
 
 1.5%
Other religions
 
 5.9%
Total adherents exceeds 100% because many Japanese people practice both Shinto and Buddhism.

Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. According to estimates, as many as 80% of the populace follow Shinto rituals to some degree, worshiping ancestors and spirits at domestic altars and public shrines. An almost equally high number is reported[6] as Buddhist. Syncretic combinations of both, known generally as shinbutsu-shūgō, are common; they represented Japan's dominant religion before the rise of State Shinto in the 19th century.[7]

Religion in Japan (2018 NHK research)[4]

  No religion (62%)
  Buddhism (31%)
  Shinto (3%)
  Christianity (1%)
  Others (1%)
  No answer (2%)
A ritual at the Takachiho-gawara, the sacred ground of the descent to earth of Ninigi-no-Mikoto (the grandson of goddess Amaterasu).

The Japanese concept of religion differs significantly from that of Western culture. Spirituality and worship are highly eclectic; rites and practices, often associated with well-being and worldly benefits, are of primary concern, while doctrines and beliefs garner minor attention.[8] Religious affiliation is an alien notion. Although the vast majority of Japanese citizens follow Shinto, only some 3% identify as Shinto in surveys, because the term is understood to imply membership of organized Shinto sects.[9][10] Some identify as "without religion" (無宗教, mushūkyō), yet this does not signify rejection or apathy towards faith. The mushūkyō is a specified identity, which is used mostly to affirm regular, "normal" religiosity while rejecting affiliation with distinct movements perceived as foreign or extreme.[11][12]

Main religions

Shinto

 
Takabe-jinja in Minamibōsō, Chiba, an example of the native shinmei-zukuri style.
 
Haiden of the Izanagi-jinja in Suita, Osaka.
 
Tenman-gū in Nagaokakyō, Kyoto.
 
Shrine of Hachiman in Ube, Yamaguchi.
Main article: Shinto
See also: Association of Shinto Shrines

Shinto (神道, Shintō), also kami-no-michi,[a] is the indigenous religion of Japan and of most of the people of Japan.[14] George Williams classifies Shinto as an action-centered religion;[15] it focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently in order to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient roots.[16] The written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki first recorded and codified Shinto practices in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to a collection of native beliefs and of mythology.[17] Shinto in the 21st century is the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods (kami),[18] suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, and applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual dating from around the time of the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794–1185) periods.[17]

The Japanese adopted the word Shinto ("way of the gods"), originally as Shindo,[19] from the written Chinese Shendao (Chinese: 神道; pinyin: shén dào),[20][b] combining two kanji: shin (神), meaning "spirit" or kami; and tō (道), meaning a philosophical path or study (from the Chinese word dào).[17][20] The oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo dates from the second half of the 6th century.[19] Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "gods", referring to the energy generating the phenomena.[21] Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms: rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the nature of kami.[21] Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.[17]

Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys.[18] This is due to the fact that "Shinto" has different meanings in Japan: most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to Shinto organisations,[9] and since there are no formal rituals to become a member of folk "Shinto", "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting those who join organised Shinto sects.[10] Shinto has 100,000 shrines[18] and 78,890 priests in the country.[22]

Shinto sects and new religions

 
Main shrine of Shinriism (神理教, Shinrikyō) in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture.
 
Headquarters of Sukyo Mahikari in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture.
 
Headquarters of Ennoism (円応教, En'nōkyō) in Hyōgo Prefecture.
Main article: Shinto sects and schools
Further information: Japanese new religions

Profound changes occurred in Japanese society in the 20th century (especially after World War II), including rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.[23] Traditional religions, challenged by the transformation, underwent a reshaping themselves,[23] and principles of religious freedom articulated by the 1947 constitution[24] provided space for the proliferation of new religious movements.[22]

New sects of Shinto, as well as movements claiming a thoroughly independent status, and also new forms of Buddhist lay societies, provided ways of aggregation for people uprooted from traditional families and village institutions.[25] While traditional Shinto has a residential and hereditary basis, and a person participates in the worship activities devoted to the local tutelary deity or ancestor – occasionally asking for specific healing or blessing services or participating in pilgrimages – in the new religions individuals formed groups without regard to kinship or territorial origins, and such groups required a voluntary decision to join.[26] These new religions also provided cohesion through a unified doctrine and practice shared by the nationwide community.[26]

The officially recognized new religions number in the hundreds, and total membership reportedly numbers in the tens of millions.[27]: 234–235  The largest new religion, Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist sect founded in 1930, has about 10 million members in Japan. Scholars in Japan have estimated that between 10% and 20% of the population belongs to the new religions,[22] although more realistic estimates put the number at well below the 10% mark.[22] As of 2007 there are 223,831 priests and leaders of the new religions in Japan, three times the number of traditional Shinto priests.[22]

Many of these new religions derive from Shinto, retain the fundamental characters of Shinto, and often identify themselves as forms of Shinto. These include Tenrikyo, Konkokyo, Omotokyo, Shinrikyo, Shinreikyo, Sekai Shindokyo, Zenrinkyo and others. Others are independent new religions, including Aum Shinrikyo, Mahikari movements, the Church of Perfect Liberty, Seicho-no-Ie, the Church of World Messianity, and others.

Buddhism

 
Tōshōdai-ji, an early Buddhist temple in Nara.
 
Myoudou-ji, a Jodo Shin temple with distinctive architectural style.
 
Monju-in, a Shingon temple in Matsuyama, Ehime.
 
Inner hall of Hyakumanben chion-ji a Jodo temple in Kyoto.
Main article: Buddhism in Japan

Buddhism (仏教, Bukkyō) first arrived in Japan in the 6th century, introduced in the year 538 or 552[28] from the kingdom of Baekje in Korea.[28] The Baekje king sent the Japanese emperor a picture of the Buddha and some sutras. After overcoming brief yet violent oppositions by conservative forces, it was accepted by the Japanese court in 587.[28] The Yamato state ruled over clans (uji) centered around the worship of ancestral nature deities.[29] It was also a period of intense immigration from Korea,[30] horse riders from northeast Asia,[28] as well as cultural influence from China,[31] that had been unified under the Sui dynasty becoming the crucial power on the mainland.[30] Buddhism functioned to affirm the state's power and mold its position in the broader culture of East Asia.[29] Japanese aristocrats set about building Buddhist temples in the capital at Nara, and then in the later capital at Heian (now Kyoto).[29]

The six Buddhist sects initially established in Nara are today together known as "Nara Buddhism" and are relatively small. When the capital moved to Heian, more forms of Buddhism arrived from China, including the still-popular Shingon Buddhism, 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 moved to Kamakura, more forms of Buddhism arrived. The most popular was Zen, which became the most popular type of Buddhism of that time. Two schools of Zen were established, Rinzai and Sōtō; a third, Ōbaku, formed in 1661.

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and its accompanying centralisation of imperial power and modernisation of the state, Shinto was made the state religion. An order of elimination of mutual influence of Shinto and Buddhism was also enacted, followed by a movement to thoroughly eradicate Buddhism from Japan.

Today, the most popular school in Japan is Pure Land Buddhism, which arrived in the Kamakura period. It emphasizes the role of Amitabha Buddha and promises that reciting the phrase "Namu Amida Butsu" upon death will result in being removed by Amitabha to the "Western Paradise" or "Pure Land", and then to Nirvana. Pure Land attracted the merchant and farmer classes. After the death of Honen, Pure Land's head missionary in Japan, the school split into two branches: Jōdo-shū, which focuses on repeating the phrase many times, and the more liberal Jōdo Shinshū, which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary. Today, many Japanese adhere to Nishi Honganji-ha, a conservative sect of Jōdo Shinshū.

Another prevalent form of Buddhism is Nichiren Buddhism, which was established by the 13th century monk Nichiren who underlined the importance of the Lotus Sutra. The main representatives of Nichiren Buddhism include sects such as Nichiren Shū and Nichiren Shōshū, and lay organisations like Risshō Kōsei Kai and Soka Gakkai—a denomination whose political wing forms the Komeito, Japan's third largest political party. Common to most lineages of Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (or Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) and the Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren.

As of 2018, there were 355,000+ Buddhist monks, priests and leaders in Japan,[32] an increase of over 40,000 compared to 2000.[33]

Minor religions

Christianity

 
Saint Mary's Catholic Cathedral of Tokyo.
 
Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, of the Japanese Orthodox Church.
 
St. Andrew's Cathedral in Tokyo, of the Japanese Anglican Church.
 
Grace Church, a Reformed church in Tokyo.
 
A Baptist church in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture (before the disaster in 2011).
 
The Mormon Tokyo Japan Temple in Minato, Tokyo.
Main article: Christianity in Japan
See also: Catholicism in Japan, Orthodoxy in Japan, and Protestantism in Japan

Christianity (キリスト教 Kirisutokyō), in the form of Catholicism (カトリック教 Katorikkukyō), was introduced into Japan by Jesuit missions starting in 1549.[34] In that year, the three Jesuits Francis Xavier, Cosme de Torres and Juan Fernández, landed in Kagoshima, in Kyushu, on 15 August.[34] Portuguese traders were active in Kagoshima since 1543,[34] welcomed by local daimyōs because they imported gunpowder. Anjirō, a Japanese convert, helped the Jesuits understanding Japanese culture and translating the first Japanese catechism.[35]

These missionaries were successful in converting large numbers of people in Kyushu, including peasants, former Buddhist monks, and members of the warrior class.[36] In 1559, a mission to the capital, Kyoto, was started.[36] By the following year there were nine churches, and the Christian community grew steadily in the 1560s.[36] By 1569 there were 30,000 Christians and 40 churches.[36] Following the conversion of some lords in Kyushu, mass baptisms of the local populations occurred, and in the 1570s the number of Christians rose rapidly to 100,000.[36]

Near the end of the 16th century, Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto, despite a ban issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1597, Hideyoshi proclaimed a more serious edict and executed 26 Franciscans in Nagasaki as a warning. Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successors enforced the prohibition of Christianity with several further edicts, especially after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s. Many Christians continued to practice in secret. However, more importantly, the discourses on Christianity became the property of the state during the Tokugawa period. The state leveraged its power over to declare Christians enemies of the state in order to create and maintain a legally enforceable identity for Japanese subjects. As such, Christian identities or icons became the exclusive property of the Japanese state.[37] Although often discussed as a "foreign" or "minority" religion, Christianity has played a key sociopolitical role in the lives of Japanese subjects and citizens for hundreds of years.[38]

In 1873, following the Meiji Restoration, the ban was rescinded, freedom of religion was promulgated, and Protestant missionaries (プロテスタント Purotesutanto or 新教 Shinkyō, "renewed teaching") began to proselytise in Japan, intensifying their activities after World War II, yet they were never as successful as in Korea.

Today, there are 1.9[39] to 3 million Christians in Japan,[40] most of them living in the western part of the country, where the missionaries' activities were greatest during the 16th century. Nagasaki Prefecture has the highest percentage of Christians: about 5.1% in 1996.[41] As of 2007 there are 32,036 Christian priests and pastors in Japan.[22] According to a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in 2006, Christianity has increased significantly in Japan, particularly among youth, and a high number of teens are becoming Christians.[42][43][44]

Throughout the latest century, some Western customs originally related to Christianity (including Western style weddings, Valentine's Day and Christmas) have become popular among many of the Japanese. For example, 60–70% of weddings performed in Japan are Christian-style.[45] Christianity and Christian culture has a generally positive image in Japan.[46][47][48]

Islam

 
Tokyo Mosque, built in Ottoman style.
Main article: Islam in Japan

Islam (イスラム教 Isuramukyō) in Japan is mostly represented by small immigrant communities from other parts of Asia. In 2008, Keiko Sakurai estimated that 80–90% of the Muslims in Japan were foreign-born migrants primarily from Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran.[49] It has been estimated that the Muslim immigrant population amounts to 10,000–50,000 people, while the "estimated number of Japanese Muslims ranges from thousands to tens of thousands".[50]

Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í Faith in Japan

The Bahá'í Faith (バハーイー教 Bahāiikyō) in Japan began after a few mentions of the country by 'Abdu'l-Bahá first in 1875.[51] The first Japanese convert was Kanichi Yamamoto (山本寛一), who lived in Honolulu, and accepted the faith in 1902; the second convert was Saichiro Fujita (藤田左弌郎). The first Bahá'í convert on Japanese soil was Kikutaro Fukuta (福田菊太郎) in 1915.[52] Almost a century later, the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 15,700 Bahá'ís in 2005.[53]

Judaism

Main articles: History of the Jews in Japan and Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan

Judaism (ユダヤ教 Yudayakyō) in Japan is practiced by about 2,000 Jews living in the country.[54] With the opening of Japan to the external world in 1853 and the end of Japan's sakoku foreign policy, some Jews immigrated to Japan from abroad, with the first recorded Jewish settlers arriving at Yokohama in 1861. The Jewish population continued to grow into the 1950s, fueled by immigration from Europe and the Middle East, with Tokyo and Kobe forming the largest communities.

During World War II, some European Jews fleeing the Holocaust found refuge in Japan. These mainly Polish Jews received a so-called Curaçao visa from the Dutch consul in Kaunas, Jan Zwartendijk.[55] This allowed one Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul to Lithuania, to issue Japanese transit visa. In doing so, both Zwartendijk and Sugihara disregarded orders and helped more than 6,000 Jews escape the Nazis. After World War II, a large portion of Japan's Jewish population emigrated, many going to what would become Israel. Some of those who remained married locals and were assimilated into Japanese society.

There are community centres serving Jews in Tokyo[56] and Kobe.[57] The Chabad-Lubavitch organization has two centers in Tokyo.[58]

In September 2015, Japan nominated a Chief Rabbi for the first time, the head of Tokyo's Chabad House, Rabbi Binyamin Edrei.[59]

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Japan
 
Depiction of Hindu deity Krishna playing the flute in a temple constructed in 752 CE on the order of Emperor Shomu, Todai-ji Temple, Great Buddha Hall in Nara, Japan

Hinduism (ヒンドゥー教 Hindūkyō or 印度教 Indokyō) in Japan is practiced by a small number of people, mostly migrants from India, Nepal, Bali.[citation needed] Nevertheless, Hindu culture have had a significant but indirect role in Japanese culture, through the spread of Buddhism and the fascination of ancient world about Bharatvarsha . Four of the Japanese "Seven Gods of Fortune" originated as Hindu deities, including Benzaiten (Sarasvati), Bishamon (Vaiśravaṇa or Kubera), Daikoku (Mahakala/Shiva), and Kisshoutennyo (Laxmi). Various Hindu deities, including the aforementioned, are worshipped in Shingon Buddhism. This denomination, and all other forms of Tantric Buddhism, borrow heavily from Tantric Hinduism.

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there were 25,597 Hindus in Japan in 2015.[60]

Sikhism

Main article: Sikhism in Japan

Sikhism (シク教 Sikukyō) is presently a minority religion in Japan mainly followed by families migrated from India.

Jainism

Main article: Jainism in Japan

Jainism (ジャイナ教 Jainakyō) is a minority religion in Japan. As of 2009, there were three Jain temples in the country.[61]

Other religions of East Asia

Happy Science

Happy Science was founded in 1986 by Ryuho Okawa. This Japanese religion has been very active in its political ventures to re-militarize Japan.

Ryukyuan religion

 
Harimizu utaki (Harimizu Shrine), a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture.
Main article: Ryukyuan religion

The Ryukyuan religion is the indigenous belief system of the people of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands. While specific legends and traditions may vary slightly from place to place and island to island, the Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship (more accurately termed "ancestor respect") and the respecting of relationships between the living, the dead, and the gods and spirits of the natural world. Some of its beliefs, such as those concerning genius loci spirits and many other beings classified between gods and humans, are indicative of its ancient animistic roots, as is its concern with mabui (まぶい), or life essence.

One of its most ancient features is the belief onarigami (おなり神), the spiritual superiority of women derived from the goddess Amamikyu, which allowed for the development of a class of noro (priestesses) cult and yuta (female media). This differs from Japanese Shinto, where men are seen as the embodiment of purity. Ryukyuan religion has been influenced by Japanese Shinto and Buddhism, and various Chinese religions. It includes sects and reformed movements such as Ijun or Ijunism (Ryukyuan: いじゅん Ijun; Japanese: 違順教 Ijunkyō), founded in the 1970s.

Ainu folk religion

Main article: Ainu religion

The Ainu religion Ainu no shūkyō (アイヌの宗教) is the indigenous belief system of the Ainu people of Hokkaido and parts of Far Eastern Russia. It is an animistic religion centered around the belief that Kamuy (spirits or gods) live in everything.

Chinese folk religion

Main article: Chinese folk religion
 
Temple of Guandi (關帝廟; Japanese: Kanteibyō, Chinese: Guāndìmiào) in Yokohama.

Most Chinese people in Japan practice the Chinese folk religion (Chinese: 中国民间宗教 or 中国民间信仰; pinyin: Zhōngguó mínjiān zōngjiào or Zhōngguó mínjiān xìnyǎng; Japanese: 中国の民俗宗教; rōmaji: Chūgoku no minzoku shūkyō), also known as Shenism (Chinese: 神教; pinyin: Shénjiào; Japanese pronunciation: Shinkyō), that is very similar to Japanese Shinto.

The Chinese folk religion consists in the worship of the ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors, shen (神 "gods", "spirits", "awarenesses", "consciousnesses", "archetypes"; literally "expressions", the energies that generate things and make them thrive), which can be nature deities, city deities or tutelary deities of other human agglomerations, national deities, cultural heroes and demigods, ancestors and progenitors of kinships. Holy narratives regarding some of these gods are codified into the body of Chinese mythology.

Taoism

 
Seitenkyū (聖天宮; Chinese: Shèngtiāngōng, "Temple of the Holy Heaven"), a Taoist temple in Sakado, Saitama.
Main article: Taoism in Japan

Taoism (道教 Dōkyō) was introduced from China between the 7th and 8th centuries, and influenced in varying degrees the Japanese indigenous spirituality. Taoist practices were absorbed into Shinto, and Taoism was the source of the esoteric and mystical religions of Onmyōdō, Shugendō and Kōshin.

Taoism, being an indigenous religion in China, shares some roots with Shinto, although Taoism is more hermetic while Shinto is more shamanic. Taoism's influence in Japan has been less profound than that of Japanese Neo-Confucianism. Today, institutional Chinese Taoism is present in the country in the form of some temples; the Seitenkyū was founded in 1995.

Confucianism

 
Kōshibyō (孔子廟, "Temple of Confucius") of the Ashikaga Gakko, the oldest Confucian school in Japan.
Main article: Edo Neo-Confucianism

Confucianism (儒教 Jukyō) was introduced from Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598),[62] and developed into an elite religion, yet having a profound influence on the fabric of Japanese society overall during the Edo period. The Confucian philosophy can be characterized as humanistic and rationalistic, with the belief that the universe could be understood through human reason, corresponding to the universal reason (li), and thus it is up to man to create a harmonious relationship between the universe (天 Ten) and the individual.[63] The rationalism of Neo-Confucianism was in contrast to the mysticism of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Unlike the Buddhists, the Neo-Confucians believed that reality existed, and could be understood by mankind, even if the interpretations of reality were slightly different depending on the school of Neo-Confucianism.[63]

The social aspects of the philosophy are hierarchical with a focus on filial piety. This created a Confucian social stratification in Edo society that previously had not existed, dividing Japanese society into four main classes: samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants.[64] The samurai were especially avid readers and teachers of Confucian thought in Japan, establishing many Confucian academies.

Neo-Confucianism also introduced elements of ethnocentrism into Japan. As the Chinese and Korean Neo-Confucians had regarded their own culture as the center of the world, the Japanese Neo-Confucians developed a similar national pride.[63] This national pride would later evolve into the philosophical school of Kokugaku, which would later challenge Neo-Confucianism, and its perceived foreign Chinese and Korean origins, as the dominant philosophy of Japan.

Religious practices and holidays

Most Japanese participate in rituals and customs derived from several religious traditions. Life cycle events are often marked by visits to a Shinto shrine and Buddhist temples. The birth of a new baby is celebrated with a formal shrine or temple visit at the age of about one month, as are the third, fifth, and seventh birthdays (Shichi-Go-San) and the official beginning of adulthood at age twenty (Seijin shiki). The vast majority of Japanese wedding ceremonies have been Christian for at least the last three and half decades.[65] Shinto weddings and secular weddings that follow a "western-style" format are also popular but much less so and a small fraction (usually less than one percent) of weddings are Buddhist.[65]

Japanese funerals are usually performed by Buddhist priests, and Buddhist rites are also common on death day anniversaries of deceased family members. 91% of Japanese funerals take place according to Buddhist traditions.

There are two categories of holidays in Japan: matsuri (temple fairs), which are largely of Shinto origin (some are Buddhist like Hanamatsuri) and relate to the cultivation of rice and the spiritual well-being of the local community; and nenjyū gyōji (annual feasts), which are largely of Chinese or Buddhist origin. During the Heian period, the matsuri were organized into a formal calendar, and other festivals were added. Very few matsuri or annual feasts are national holidays, but they are included in the national calendar of annual events. Most matsuri are local events and follow local traditions. They may be sponsored by schools, towns, or other groups but are most often associated with Shinto shrines.

Some of the 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 Buddhist temples and only Buddhist temples for later. The New Year's holiday (January 1–3) is marked by the practice of numerous customs and the consumption of special foods. Visiting Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to pray for family blessings in the coming year, dressing in a kimono, hanging special decorations, eating noodles on New Year's Eve, and playing a poetry card game are among these practices. During Obon, bon (spirit altars) are set up in front of Buddhist family altars, which, along with ancestral graves, are cleaned in anticipation of the return of 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 family rituals in the home.

Religion and law

See also: Freedom of religion in Japan

In early Japanese history, the ruling class was responsible for performing propitiatory rituals, which later came to be identified as Shinto, and for the introduction and support of Buddhism. Later, religious organization was used by regimes for political purposes; for instance, the Tokugawa government required each family to be registered as a member of a Buddhist temple. In the early 19th century, the government required that each family belong to a shrine instead, and in the early 20th century, this was supplemented with the concept of a divine right to rule bestowed on the emperor. The Meiji Constitution reads: "Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief".

Article 20 of the 1947 Constitution states: "Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all. No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority. No person shall be compelled to take part in any religious act, celebration, rite or practice. The State and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity". This change in constitutional rights provided mechanisms for limiting state educational initiatives designed to promote Shinto beliefs in schools and freed the populace from mandatory participation in Shinto rites.[66]

In postwar years, the issue of the separation of Shinto and state arose in the Self-Defense Force Apotheosis Case. In 1973, Nakaya Takafumi, a member of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and husband of Nakaya Yasuko, died in a traffic accident.[67] Despite Yasuko's refusal to provide relevant documents for her husband's enshrinement at the Yamaguchi prefectural National-Protecting Shrine, the prefectural Veterans’ Association requested the information from the Self-Defense Forces and completed the enshrinement.[67] As a result, in 1973, Yasuko sued the Yamaguchi Prefectural Branch of the Self-Defense Forces, on the grounds that the ceremony of apotheosis violated her religious rights as a Christian.[67]

Although Yasuko won the case at two lower courts, the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of Japan on June 1, 1988, based on the precedent established by the Tsu City Shinto Groundbreaking Ceremony Case. First, the Supreme Court ruled that because the Veterans’ Association—which was not an organ of the state—had acted alone when arranging the ceremony of apotheosis, no violation of Article 20 had occurred.[68] Second, the Supreme Court held that the Self-Defense Forces' provision of Takafumi's documents to the Veterans’ Association did not constitute a religious activity prohibited by Article 20, because neither the intention nor the effects of its action harmed or patronized any religion.[69]

Third, the Supreme Court adopted a narrow interpretation of individual religious rights, by ruling that violation of individual rights to religion did not occur unless the state or its organs coerced individuals to perform some religious activity or limited their religious freedom.[70] On June 2, 1988, a report by the Los Angeles Times described the Japanese Supreme Court's decision as “a major setback for advocates of stronger separation of religion and state in Japan.”[71] On June 7, 1988, an article published in the New York Times expressed concern that the Japanese Supreme Court's decision was likely to encourage the resurgence of State Shinto and nationalism.[72] Because the prefectural National-Protecting Shrines perform the same ceremony of apotheosis as the Yasukuni Shrine does, the significance of this case also lies in its implications for the constitutionality of state patronage of and official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.[68]

Opposition to organised religion

Shichihei Yamamoto argues that Japan has shown greater tolerance towards irreligion than the West.[73]

Comments against religion by notable figures

  • Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, philosopher and scholar who rejected theism, claimed that God or Buddha, as objective beings, are mere illusions.[74]
  • Ito Hirobumi, four-time Prime Minister of Japan, who reportedly said: "I regard religion itself as quite unnecessary for a nation's life; science is far above superstition, and what is religion – Buddhism or Christianity – but superstition, and therefore a possible source of weakness to a nation? I do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism, which is almost universal in Japan because I do not regard it as a source of danger to the community".[75]
  • Hiroyuki Kato, who headed the Imperial Academy from 1905 to 1909 and said: "Religion depends on fear".[75]
  • Haruki Murakami, a Japanese novelist who wrote: "God only exists in people’s minds. Especially in Japan, God's always has been a kind of flexible concept. Look at what happened to the war. Douglas MacArthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being a God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person".[76]
  • Ando Shoeki, who denounced Confucian scholars and Buddhist clergy as spiritual oppressors of his age, though he still venerated the gods of old Japan as a pantheist would, equating them with the nature.[77]
  • Fukuzawa Yukichi, who was regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan and found it impossible to combine modern learning with belief in gods,[78] openly declaring: "It goes without saying that the maintenance of peace and security in society requires a religion. For this purpose any religion will do. I lack a religious nature, and have never believed in any religion. I am thus open to the charge that I am advising others to be religious while I am not so. Yet my conscience does not permit me to clothe myself with religion when I have it not at heart...Of religions there are several kinds – Buddhism, Christianity, and what not. From my standpoint there is no more difference between those than between green tea and black...".[79]

Anti-religious organisations

The Japan Militant Atheists Alliance (Nihon Sentoteki Mushinronsha Domei, also known as Senmu) was founded in September 1931 by a group of antireligious people. The alliance opposed the idea of kokutai, the nation's founding myth, the presence of religion in public education, and the practice of State Shinto. Their greatest opposition was towards the imperial system of Japan.[80]

Two months later, in November 1931, socialist Toshihiko Sakai and Communist Takatsu Seido created the Japan Anti-religion Alliance (Nihon Hanshukyo Domei). They opposed "contributions to religious organizations, prayers for practical benefits (kito), preaching in factories, and the religious organizations of all stripes" and viewed religion as a tool used by the upper class to suppress laborers and farmers.[80]

Demographics

According to the annual statistical research on religion in 2015 by the Agency for Culture Affairs, Government of Japan: there are 181 thousand religious groups in Japan.[81]

According to surveys carried out in 2006[82] and 2008,[83] less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organized religion: around 35% are Buddhists, 3% to 4% are members of Shinto sects and derived religions, and from fewer than 1%[84][85][86] to 2.3% are Christians.[note 1]

Organised religions in Japan
Religion 1984[87] 1996[88] 2008[83]
Japanese Buddhism 27% 29.5% 34%
Shinto sects 3% 1% 3%
Christianity 2% 2% 1%
Organised religious affiliation in Japan by prefecture (1996)[88]
Prefecture Tendai or Shingon Jōdo or Shin Zen Nichiren Soka Gakkai Other Buddhist schools Buddhism overall Shinto sects Christianity none
Hokkaido ~3% 13.3% 8.2% 3.2% ~2% ~2% ~31.7% ~2% ~1% ~65.3%
Aomori Prefecture ~1% 10.3% 5.6% 3.4% ~2% ~3% ~25.3% ~2% ~1% ~71.7%
Iwate Prefecture ~2% 6.1% 12.8% ~0 ~2% ~3% ~25.9% ~0 ~1% ~73.1%
Miyagi Prefecture ~3% 4.8% 9.5% ~2% ~2% ~2% ~23.3% ~0 ~1% ~75.7%
Akita Prefecture ~0 6.9% 9.5% ~3% ~2% ~2% ~21.4% ~3% ~0 ~75.6%
Yamagata Prefecture ~4% 5.6% 8.5% ~3% ~3% 3.4% ~27.5% ~2% ~1% ~69.5%
Fukushima Prefecture 5.2% 4.8% 5.2% ~0 ~3% ~3% ~21.2% ~0 ~0 ~78.8%
Ibaraki Prefecture 7.1% 4.1% ~2% ~2% ~3% ~2% ~20.2% ~1% ~1% ~77.8%
Tochigi Prefecture 6% 3.1% ~3% ~3% 3.1% ~2% ~20.2% ~0 ~1 ~78.8%
Gunma Prefecture 6.6% 3.6% 5.8% ~3% ~3% ~2% ~24% ~1% ~2% ~73%
Saitama Prefecture 5.8% 5.2% ~3% ~2% 3.3% ~1% ~20.3% ~0 ~2% ~77.7%
Chiba Prefecture 3.8% 4.5% ~1% 3.3% ~3% ~1% ~16.6% ~0 ~1% ~82.4%
Tokyo 3.4% 8.3% ~2% 3.3% 4% ~2% ~23% ~1% 3.4% ~72.6%
Kanagawa Prefecture ~3% 5.5% 3.7% 3.7% 3.5% ~2% ~21.4% ~1% ~3% ~74.6%
Niigata Prefecture 3.2% 10.6% 4.9% ~1% ~2% ~2% ~23.7% ~1% ~1% ~74.3%
Toyama Prefecture ~2% 41.3% ~1% ~2% ~1% ~1% ~48.3% ~0 ~0 ~51.7%
Ishikawa Prefecture ~2 36.2% ~1% ~1% ~0 ~3% ~43.2% ~1% ~1% ~54.8%
Fukui Prefecture ~2% 41.4% 5.5% 3.9% ~1% ~3% ~56.8% ~1% ~0 ~42.2%
Yamanashi Prefecture ~1% 4.5% 6.2% 8.9% ~3% ~3% ~26.6% ~1% ~1% ~71.4%
Nagano Prefecture 3.5% 11.8% 7.6% ~2% ~3% ~2% ~29.9% ~1% ~1% ~68.1%
Gifu Prefecture ~3% 23.2% 6.8% ~1% ~3% ~1% ~38.1% ~1% ~1% ~59.9%
Shizuoka Prefecture ~1% 6.2% 9.4% 7.3% 3.6% ~4% ~31.5% ~1% ~1% ~66.5%
Aichi Prefecture ~3% 16.7% 8.5% ~1% ~3% ~2% ~34.2% ~2% ~2% ~61.8%
Mie Prefecture ~3% 22.9% 4.2% ~1% ~2% ~2% ~35.1% ~1% ~1% ~62.9%
Shiga Prefecture 3% 26.7% 3.2% ~2% ~3% ~0 ~37.9% ~0 ~1% ~61.1%
Kyoto Prefecture ~3% 17.5% 3.4% ~2% ~3% ~3% ~31.9% ~2% ~2% ~66.1%
Osaka Prefecture 5.9% 15.6% ~3% 3% 5.2% ~1% ~33.7% ~1% ~1% ~64.3%
Hyōgo Prefecture 8.6% 12.2% 3.1% ~3% 3.1% ~3% ~33% ~2% ~2% ~63%
Nara Prefecture 4.2% 17.3% ~1% ~3% ~3% ~2% ~30.5% ~0 ~1% ~68.5%
Wakayama Prefecture 9.6% 13.5% ~3% ~1% 3.5% ~2% ~32.6% ~0 ~0 ~67.4%
Tottori Prefecture ~3% 10.4% 8.8% 4% ~2% ~3% ~31.2% ~3% ~1% ~64.8%
Shimane Prefecture ~4% 18.4% 6.5% ~2% ~1% ~3% ~30.9% ~2% ~1% ~66.1%
Okayama Prefecture 16.6% 5.1% 3% 5.9% ~3% 0 ~33.6% ~2% ~1% ~63.4%
Hiroshima Prefecture 4.4% 35.3% 3.6% ~2% 4.9% ~1% ~51.2% ~2% ~2% ~44.8%
Yamaguchi Prefecture ~3% 21.9% 3.8% ~2% 3.8% ~1% ~35.5% ~1% ~1% ~62.5%
Tokushima Prefecture 19.8% 6.7% ~0 ~1% 3% ~1% ~31.5% ~1% ~1% ~66.5%
Kagawa Prefecture 14% 18% ~1% ~2% ~3% ~1% ~39% ~0 ~1% ~60%
Ehime Prefecture 9.3% 6.7% 5.3% ~2% ~3% ~1% ~27.3% ~1% ~2% ~69.7%
Kōchi Prefecture 6.3% 6.3% ~0 ~1% ~3% ~1% ~17.6% 5.5% ~0 ~76.9%
Fukuoka Prefecture ~2% 24.1% 3.3% 3% 3.3% ~2% ~37.7% ~1% ~2% ~59.3%
Saga Prefecture ~4% 21.9% 6.1% ~3% ~2% ~3% ~40% ~0 ~0 ~60%
Nagasaki Prefecture 4.9% 19.5% 3.6% 5.1% ~3% ~3% ~39.1% ~2% 5.1% ~53.8%
Kumamoto Prefecture ~2% 28.4% ~3% ~2% ~2% ~1% ~38.4% ~0 ~1% ~61.6%
Ōita Prefecture ~3% 20.7% 4.7% ~3% ~3% ~1% ~35.4% ~2% ~1% ~61.6%
Miyazaki Prefecture ~3% 18.2% ~3% ~3% ~3% 3.3% ~33.5% 3.8% ~1% ~61.7%
Kagoshima Prefecture ~2% 29.8% ~1% ~2% ~3% 6% ~43.8% ~3% ~0 ~53.2%
Okinawa Prefecture ~0 ~0 ~0 ~0 3.6% ~0 ~3,6% ~0 ~3 ~93.4%
Japan 4% 12.9% 4.1% ~3% 3% ~2.5% ~29.5% ~1% ~2% ~67.5%

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ According to the Dentsu survey of 2006: 1% Protestants, 0.8% members of the Catholic Church and 0.5% members of the Eastern Orthodox Church.[82]
  1. ^ Both mean the "way of the divine" or "of the gods". Other names are:[13]
    • Kannagara-no-michi, "way of the divine transmitted from time immemorial";
    • Kodo, the "ancient way";
    • Daido, the "great way";
    • Teido, the "imperial way".
  2. ^ During the history of China, at the time of the spread of Buddhism to that country c. 1st century CE, the name Shendao identified what is currently known as "Shenism", the Chinese indigenous religion, distinguishing it from the new Buddhist religion. (Brian Bocking. A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge, 2005. ASIN: B00ID5TQZY p. 129)

References

  1. ^ Japan - Country. CIA, Government of the United States.
  2. ^ a b "Population Estimates Monthly Report - December 1, 2020 (Final estimates)".
  3. ^ CIA World Factbook:[1]
    • Shinto: 70.5%
    • Buddhism: 67.2%
    • Christianity: 1.5%
    • Other: 5.9%

    Percentages calculated using the official total population figure of 126,088,000 as of the end of 2020.[2]

  4. ^ "ISSP" (PDF). NHK. 2018.
  5. ^ 宗教年鑑 令和3年版 [Religious Yearbook 2021] (PDF) (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. 2021.
  6. ^ Population figures from the Agency for Cultural Affairs Religious Yearbook 2021, as of the end of 2020, are as follows:[5]
    • Shinto: 87,924,087
    • Buddhism: 83,971,139
    • Christianity: 1,915,294
    • Other: 7,335,572

    Percentages calculated using the official total population figure of 126,088,000 as of the end of 2020.[2]

  7. ^ Reischauer, Edwin O.; Jansen, Marius B. (1988). The Japanese today: change and continuity (2nd ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-674-47184-9.
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  84. ^ Mariko Kato (February 24, 2009). "Christianity's long history in the margins". The Japan Times. The Christian community itself counts only those who have been baptized and are currently regular churchgoers — some 1 million people, or less than 1 percent of the population, according to Nobuhisa Yamakita, moderator of the United Church of Christ in Japan
  85. ^ . Mission Network News. 3 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. The population of Japan is less than one-percent Christian
  86. ^ Heide Fehrenbach, Uta G. Poiger (2000). Transactions, transgressions, transformations: American culture in Western Europe and Japan. Berghahn Books. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-57181-108-0. ... followers of the Christian faith constitute only about a half percent of the Japanese population
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Sources

  • LeFebvre, J. (2015). Christian Wedding Ceremonies: “Nonreligiousness” in Contemporary Japan. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 42(2), 185–203. http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4454
  • LeFebvre, J. (2021). The Oppressor's Dilemma: How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings. Journal of Religion in Japan. https://brill.com/view/journals/jrj/aop/article-1163-22118349-20210001/article-1163-22118349-20210001.xml
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Religion in Japan.
 
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Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Japan VIII. Religion.

March 05, 2023
religion, japan, religious, believers, japan, world, factbook, shinto, buddhism, christianity, other, religions, total, adherents, exceeds, because, many, japanese, people, practice, both, shinto, buddhism, manifested, primarily, shinto, buddhism, main, faiths. Religious believers in Japan CIA World Factbook 3 Shinto 70 5 Buddhism 67 2 Christianity 1 5 Other religions 5 9 Total adherents exceeds 100 because many Japanese people practice both Shinto and Buddhism Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism the two main faiths which Japanese people often practice simultaneously According to estimates as many as 80 of the populace follow Shinto rituals to some degree worshiping ancestors and spirits at domestic altars and public shrines An almost equally high number is reported 6 as Buddhist Syncretic combinations of both known generally as shinbutsu shugō are common they represented Japan s dominant religion before the rise of State Shinto in the 19th century 7 Religion in Japan 2018 NHK research 4 No religion 62 Buddhism 31 Shinto 3 Christianity 1 Others 1 No answer 2 A ritual at the Takachiho gawara the sacred ground of the descent to earth of Ninigi no Mikoto the grandson of goddess Amaterasu The Great Buddha at Kōtoku in temple in Kamakura Kanagawa Prefecture The Japanese concept of religion differs significantly from that of Western culture Spirituality and worship are highly eclectic rites and practices often associated with well being and worldly benefits are of primary concern while doctrines and beliefs garner minor attention 8 Religious affiliation is an alien notion Although the vast majority of Japanese citizens follow Shinto only some 3 identify as Shinto in surveys because the term is understood to imply membership of organized Shinto sects 9 10 Some identify as without religion 無宗教 mushukyō yet this does not signify rejection or apathy towards faith The mushukyō is a specified identity which is used mostly to affirm regular normal religiosity while rejecting affiliation with distinct movements perceived as foreign or extreme 11 12 Contents 1 Main religions 1 1 Shinto 1 1 1 Shinto sects and new religions 1 2 Buddhism 2 Minor religions 2 1 Christianity 2 2 Islam 2 3 Baha i Faith 2 4 Judaism 2 5 Hinduism 2 6 Sikhism 2 7 Jainism 2 8 Other religions of East Asia 2 8 1 Ryukyuan religion 2 8 2 Ainu folk religion 2 8 3 Chinese folk religion 2 8 4 Taoism 2 8 5 Confucianism 3 Religious practices and holidays 4 Religion and law 5 Opposition to organised religion 5 1 Comments against religion by notable figures 5 2 Anti religious organisations 6 Demographics 7 See also 8 Footnotes 9 References 10 Sources 11 External linksMain religions EditShinto Edit Takabe jinja in Minamibōsō Chiba an example of the native shinmei zukuri style Haiden of the Izanagi jinja in Suita Osaka Tenman gu in Nagaokakyō Kyoto Shrine of Hachiman in Ube Yamaguchi Main article Shinto See also Association of Shinto Shrines Shinto 神道 Shintō also kami no michi a is the indigenous religion of Japan and of most of the people of Japan 14 George Williams classifies Shinto as an action centered religion 15 it focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently in order to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient roots 16 The written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki first recorded and codified Shinto practices in the 8th century Still these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified Shinto religion but rather to a collection of native beliefs and of mythology 17 Shinto in the 21st century is the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods kami 18 suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals and applies as well to various sectarian organizations Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice adopting a similar style in dress and ritual dating from around the time of the Nara 710 794 and Heian 794 1185 periods 17 The Japanese adopted the word Shinto way of the gods originally as Shindo 19 from the written Chinese Shendao Chinese 神道 pinyin shen dao 20 b combining two kanji shin 神 meaning spirit or kami and tō 道 meaning a philosophical path or study from the Chinese word dao 17 20 The oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo dates from the second half of the 6th century 19 Kami are defined in English as spirits essences or gods referring to the energy generating the phenomena 21 Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural kami refers to the divinity or sacred essence that manifests in multiple forms rocks trees rivers animals places and even people can be said to possess the nature of kami 21 Kami and people are not separate they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity 17 Shinto is the largest religion in Japan practiced by nearly 80 of the population yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as Shintoists in surveys 18 This is due to the fact that Shinto has different meanings in Japan most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to Shinto organisations 9 and since there are no formal rituals to become a member of folk Shinto Shinto membership is often estimated counting those who join organised Shinto sects 10 Shinto has 100 000 shrines 18 and 78 890 priests in the country 22 Shinto sects and new religions Edit Main shrine of Shinriism 神理教 Shinrikyō in Kitakyushu Fukuoka Prefecture Headquarters of Sukyo Mahikari in Takayama Gifu Prefecture Headquarters of Ennoism 円応教 En nōkyō in Hyōgo Prefecture Main article Shinto sects and schools Further information Japanese new religions Profound changes occurred in Japanese society in the 20th century especially after World War II including rapid industrialisation and urbanisation 23 Traditional religions challenged by the transformation underwent a reshaping themselves 23 and principles of religious freedom articulated by the 1947 constitution 24 provided space for the proliferation of new religious movements 22 New sects of Shinto as well as movements claiming a thoroughly independent status and also new forms of Buddhist lay societies provided ways of aggregation for people uprooted from traditional families and village institutions 25 While traditional Shinto has a residential and hereditary basis and a person participates in the worship activities devoted to the local tutelary deity or ancestor occasionally asking for specific healing or blessing services or participating in pilgrimages in the new religions individuals formed groups without regard to kinship or territorial origins and such groups required a voluntary decision to join 26 These new religions also provided cohesion through a unified doctrine and practice shared by the nationwide community 26 The officially recognized new religions number in the hundreds and total membership reportedly numbers in the tens of millions 27 234 235 The largest new religion Soka Gakkai a Buddhist sect founded in 1930 has about 10 million members in Japan Scholars in Japan have estimated that between 10 and 20 of the population belongs to the new religions 22 although more realistic estimates put the number at well below the 10 mark 22 As of 2007 update there are 223 831 priests and leaders of the new religions in Japan three times the number of traditional Shinto priests 22 Many of these new religions derive from Shinto retain the fundamental characters of Shinto and often identify themselves as forms of Shinto These include Tenrikyo Konkokyo Omotokyo Shinrikyo Shinreikyo Sekai Shindokyo Zenrinkyo and others Others are independent new religions including Aum Shinrikyo Mahikari movements the Church of Perfect Liberty Seicho no Ie the Church of World Messianity and others Buddhism Edit Tōshōdai ji an early Buddhist temple in Nara Myoudou ji a Jodo Shin temple with distinctive architectural style Monju in a Shingon temple in Matsuyama Ehime Inner hall of Hyakumanben chion ji a Jodo temple in Kyoto Main article Buddhism in Japan Buddhism 仏教 Bukkyō first arrived in Japan in the 6th century introduced in the year 538 or 552 28 from the kingdom of Baekje in Korea 28 The Baekje king sent the Japanese emperor a picture of the Buddha and some sutras After overcoming brief yet violent oppositions by conservative forces it was accepted by the Japanese court in 587 28 The Yamato state ruled over clans uji centered around the worship of ancestral nature deities 29 It was also a period of intense immigration from Korea 30 horse riders from northeast Asia 28 as well as cultural influence from China 31 that had been unified under the Sui dynasty becoming the crucial power on the mainland 30 Buddhism functioned to affirm the state s power and mold its position in the broader culture of East Asia 29 Japanese aristocrats set about building Buddhist temples in the capital at Nara and then in the later capital at Heian now Kyoto 29 The six Buddhist sects initially established in Nara are today together known as Nara Buddhism and are relatively small When the capital moved to Heian more forms of Buddhism arrived from China including the still popular Shingon Buddhism 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 moved to Kamakura more forms of Buddhism arrived The most popular was Zen which became the most popular type of Buddhism of that time Two schools of Zen were established Rinzai and Sōtō a third Ōbaku formed in 1661 With the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and its accompanying centralisation of imperial power and modernisation of the state Shinto was made the state religion An order of elimination of mutual influence of Shinto and Buddhism was also enacted followed by a movement to thoroughly eradicate Buddhism from Japan Today the most popular school in Japan is Pure Land Buddhism which arrived in the Kamakura period It emphasizes the role of Amitabha Buddha and promises that reciting the phrase Namu Amida Butsu upon death will result in being removed by Amitabha to the Western Paradise or Pure Land and then to Nirvana Pure Land attracted the merchant and farmer classes After the death of Honen Pure Land s head missionary in Japan the school split into two branches Jōdo shu which focuses on repeating the phrase many times and the more liberal Jōdo Shinshu which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary Today many Japanese adhere to Nishi Honganji ha a conservative sect of Jōdo Shinshu Another prevalent form of Buddhism is Nichiren Buddhism which was established by the 13th century monk Nichiren who underlined the importance of the Lotus Sutra The main representatives of Nichiren Buddhism include sects such as Nichiren Shu and Nichiren Shōshu and lay organisations like Risshō Kōsei Kai and Soka Gakkai a denomination whose political wing forms the Komeito Japan s third largest political party Common to most lineages of Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō or Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and the Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren As of 2018 update there were 355 000 Buddhist monks priests and leaders in Japan 32 an increase of over 40 000 compared to 2000 33 Minor religions EditChristianity Edit Saint Mary s Catholic Cathedral of Tokyo Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo of the Japanese Orthodox Church St Andrew s Cathedral in Tokyo of the Japanese Anglican Church Grace Church a Reformed church in Tokyo A Baptist church in Futaba Fukushima Prefecture before the disaster in 2011 The Mormon Tokyo Japan Temple in Minato Tokyo Main article Christianity in Japan See also Catholicism in Japan Orthodoxy in Japan and Protestantism in Japan Christianity キリスト教 Kirisutokyō in the form of Catholicism カトリック教 Katorikkukyō was introduced into Japan by Jesuit missions starting in 1549 34 In that year the three Jesuits Francis Xavier Cosme de Torres and Juan Fernandez landed in Kagoshima in Kyushu on 15 August 34 Portuguese traders were active in Kagoshima since 1543 34 welcomed by local daimyōs because they imported gunpowder Anjirō a Japanese convert helped the Jesuits understanding Japanese culture and translating the first Japanese catechism 35 These missionaries were successful in converting large numbers of people in Kyushu including peasants former Buddhist monks and members of the warrior class 36 In 1559 a mission to the capital Kyoto was started 36 By the following year there were nine churches and the Christian community grew steadily in the 1560s 36 By 1569 there were 30 000 Christians and 40 churches 36 Following the conversion of some lords in Kyushu mass baptisms of the local populations occurred and in the 1570s the number of Christians rose rapidly to 100 000 36 Near the end of the 16th century Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto despite a ban issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi In 1597 Hideyoshi proclaimed a more serious edict and executed 26 Franciscans in Nagasaki as a warning Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successors enforced the prohibition of Christianity with several further edicts especially after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s Many Christians continued to practice in secret However more importantly the discourses on Christianity became the property of the state during the Tokugawa period The state leveraged its power over to declare Christians enemies of the state in order to create and maintain a legally enforceable identity for Japanese subjects As such Christian identities or icons became the exclusive property of the Japanese state 37 Although often discussed as a foreign or minority religion Christianity has played a key sociopolitical role in the lives of Japanese subjects and citizens for hundreds of years 38 In 1873 following the Meiji Restoration the ban was rescinded freedom of religion was promulgated and Protestant missionaries プロテスタント Purotesutanto or 新教 Shinkyō renewed teaching began to proselytise in Japan intensifying their activities after World War II yet they were never as successful as in Korea Today there are 1 9 39 to 3 million Christians in Japan 40 most of them living in the western part of the country where the missionaries activities were greatest during the 16th century Nagasaki Prefecture has the highest percentage of Christians about 5 1 in 1996 41 As of 2007 there are 32 036 Christian priests and pastors in Japan 22 According to a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in 2006 Christianity has increased significantly in Japan particularly among youth and a high number of teens are becoming Christians 42 43 44 Throughout the latest century some Western customs originally related to Christianity including Western style weddings Valentine s Day and Christmas have become popular among many of the Japanese For example 60 70 of weddings performed in Japan are Christian style 45 Christianity and Christian culture has a generally positive image in Japan 46 47 48 Islam Edit Tokyo Mosque built in Ottoman style Main article Islam in Japan Islam イスラム教 Isuramukyō in Japan is mostly represented by small immigrant communities from other parts of Asia In 2008 Keiko Sakurai estimated that 80 90 of the Muslims in Japan were foreign born migrants primarily from Indonesia Pakistan Bangladesh and Iran 49 It has been estimated that the Muslim immigrant population amounts to 10 000 50 000 people while the estimated number of Japanese Muslims ranges from thousands to tens of thousands 50 Baha i Faith Edit Main article Baha i Faith in Japan The Baha i Faith バハーイー教 Bahaiikyō in Japan began after a few mentions of the country by Abdu l Baha first in 1875 51 The first Japanese convert was Kanichi Yamamoto 山本寛一 who lived in Honolulu and accepted the faith in 1902 the second convert was Saichiro Fujita 藤田左弌郎 The first Baha i convert on Japanese soil was Kikutaro Fukuta 福田菊太郎 in 1915 52 Almost a century later the Association of Religion Data Archives relying on World Christian Encyclopedia estimated some 15 700 Baha is in 2005 53 Judaism Edit Main articles History of the Jews in Japan and Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan Judaism ユダヤ教 Yudayakyō in Japan is practiced by about 2 000 Jews living in the country 54 With the opening of Japan to the external world in 1853 and the end of Japan s sakoku foreign policy some Jews immigrated to Japan from abroad with the first recorded Jewish settlers arriving at Yokohama in 1861 The Jewish population continued to grow into the 1950s fueled by immigration from Europe and the Middle East with Tokyo and Kobe forming the largest communities During World War II some European Jews fleeing the Holocaust found refuge in Japan These mainly Polish Jews received a so called Curacao visa from the Dutch consul in Kaunas Jan Zwartendijk 55 This allowed one Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara the Japanese consul to Lithuania to issue Japanese transit visa In doing so both Zwartendijk and Sugihara disregarded orders and helped more than 6 000 Jews escape the Nazis After World War II a large portion of Japan s Jewish population emigrated many going to what would become Israel Some of those who remained married locals and were assimilated into Japanese society There are community centres serving Jews in Tokyo 56 and Kobe 57 The Chabad Lubavitch organization has two centers in Tokyo 58 In September 2015 Japan nominated a Chief Rabbi for the first time the head of Tokyo s Chabad House Rabbi Binyamin Edrei 59 Hinduism Edit Main article Hinduism in Japan Depiction of Hindu deity Krishna playing the flute in a temple constructed in 752 CE on the order of Emperor Shomu Todai ji Temple Great Buddha Hall in Nara Japan Hinduism ヒンドゥー教 Hindukyō or 印度教 Indokyō in Japan is practiced by a small number of people mostly migrants from India Nepal Bali citation needed Nevertheless Hindu culture have had a significant but indirect role in Japanese culture through the spread of Buddhism and the fascination of ancient world about Bharatvarsha Four of the Japanese Seven Gods of Fortune originated as Hindu deities including Benzaiten Sarasvati Bishamon Vaisravaṇa or Kubera Daikoku Mahakala Shiva and Kisshoutennyo Laxmi Various Hindu deities including the aforementioned are worshipped in Shingon Buddhism This denomination and all other forms of Tantric Buddhism borrow heavily from Tantric Hinduism According to the Association of Religion Data Archives there were 25 597 Hindus in Japan in 2015 60 Sikhism Edit Main article Sikhism in Japan Sikhism シク教 Sikukyō is presently a minority religion in Japan mainly followed by families migrated from India Jainism Edit Main article Jainism in Japan Jainism ジャイナ教 Jainakyō is a minority religion in Japan As of 2009 update there were three Jain temples in the country 61 Other religions of East Asia Edit Happy ScienceHappy Science was founded in 1986 by Ryuho Okawa This Japanese religion has been very active in its political ventures to re militarize Japan Ryukyuan religion Edit Harimizu utaki Harimizu Shrine a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima Okinawa Prefecture Main article Ryukyuan religion The Ryukyuan religion is the indigenous belief system of the people of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands While specific legends and traditions may vary slightly from place to place and island to island the Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship more accurately termed ancestor respect and the respecting of relationships between the living the dead and the gods and spirits of the natural world Some of its beliefs such as those concerning genius loci spirits and many other beings classified between gods and humans are indicative of its ancient animistic roots as is its concern with mabui まぶい or life essence One of its most ancient features is the belief onarigami おなり神 the spiritual superiority of women derived from the goddess Amamikyu which allowed for the development of a class of noro priestesses cult and yuta female media This differs from Japanese Shinto where men are seen as the embodiment of purity Ryukyuan religion has been influenced by Japanese Shinto and Buddhism and various Chinese religions It includes sects and reformed movements such as Ijun or Ijunism Ryukyuan いじゅん Ijun Japanese 違順教 Ijunkyō founded in the 1970s Ainu folk religion Edit Main article Ainu religion The Ainu religion Ainu no shukyō アイヌの宗教 is the indigenous belief system of the Ainu people of Hokkaido and parts of Far Eastern Russia It is an animistic religion centered around the belief that Kamuy spirits or gods live in everything Chinese folk religion Edit Main article Chinese folk religion Temple of Guandi 關帝廟 Japanese Kanteibyō Chinese Guandimiao in Yokohama Most Chinese people in Japan practice the Chinese folk religion Chinese 中国民间宗教 or 中国民间信仰 pinyin Zhōngguo minjian zōngjiao or Zhōngguo minjian xinyǎng Japanese 中国の民俗宗教 rōmaji Chugoku no minzoku shukyō also known as Shenism Chinese 神教 pinyin Shenjiao Japanese pronunciation Shinkyō that is very similar to Japanese Shinto The Chinese folk religion consists in the worship of the ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors shen 神 gods spirits awarenesses consciousnesses archetypes literally expressions the energies that generate things and make them thrive which can be nature deities city deities or tutelary deities of other human agglomerations national deities cultural heroes and demigods ancestors and progenitors of kinships Holy narratives regarding some of these gods are codified into the body of Chinese mythology Taoism Edit Seitenkyu 聖天宮 Chinese Shengtiangōng Temple of the Holy Heaven a Taoist temple in Sakado Saitama Main article Taoism in Japan Taoism 道教 Dōkyō was introduced from China between the 7th and 8th centuries and influenced in varying degrees the Japanese indigenous spirituality Taoist practices were absorbed into Shinto and Taoism was the source of the esoteric and mystical religions of Onmyōdō Shugendō and Kōshin Taoism being an indigenous religion in China shares some roots with Shinto although Taoism is more hermetic while Shinto is more shamanic Taoism s influence in Japan has been less profound than that of Japanese Neo Confucianism Today institutional Chinese Taoism is present in the country in the form of some temples the Seitenkyu was founded in 1995 Confucianism Edit Kōshibyō 孔子廟 Temple of Confucius of the Ashikaga Gakko the oldest Confucian school in Japan Main article Edo Neo Confucianism Confucianism 儒教 Jukyō was introduced from Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea 1592 1598 62 and developed into an elite religion yet having a profound influence on the fabric of Japanese society overall during the Edo period The Confucian philosophy can be characterized as humanistic and rationalistic with the belief that the universe could be understood through human reason corresponding to the universal reason li and thus it is up to man to create a harmonious relationship between the universe 天 Ten and the individual 63 The rationalism of Neo Confucianism was in contrast to the mysticism of Zen Buddhism in Japan Unlike the Buddhists the Neo Confucians believed that reality existed and could be understood by mankind even if the interpretations of reality were slightly different depending on the school of Neo Confucianism 63 The social aspects of the philosophy are hierarchical with a focus on filial piety This created a Confucian social stratification in Edo society that previously had not existed dividing Japanese society into four main classes samurai farmers artisans and merchants 64 The samurai were especially avid readers and teachers of Confucian thought in Japan establishing many Confucian academies Neo Confucianism also introduced elements of ethnocentrism into Japan As the Chinese and Korean Neo Confucians had regarded their own culture as the center of the world the Japanese Neo Confucians developed a similar national pride 63 This national pride would later evolve into the philosophical school of Kokugaku which would later challenge Neo Confucianism and its perceived foreign Chinese and Korean origins as the dominant philosophy of Japan Religious practices and holidays EditMost Japanese participate in rituals and customs derived from several religious traditions Life cycle events are often marked by visits to a Shinto shrine and Buddhist temples The birth of a new baby is celebrated with a formal shrine or temple visit at the age of about one month as are the third fifth and seventh birthdays Shichi Go San and the official beginning of adulthood at age twenty Seijin shiki The vast majority of Japanese wedding ceremonies have been Christian for at least the last three and half decades 65 Shinto weddings and secular weddings that follow a western style format are also popular but much less so and a small fraction usually less than one percent of weddings are Buddhist 65 Japanese funerals are usually performed by Buddhist priests and Buddhist rites are also common on death day anniversaries of deceased family members 91 of Japanese funerals take place according to Buddhist traditions There are two categories of holidays in Japan matsuri temple fairs which are largely of Shinto origin some are Buddhist like Hanamatsuri and relate to the cultivation of rice and the spiritual well being of the local community and nenjyu gyōji annual feasts which are largely of Chinese or Buddhist origin During the Heian period the matsuri were organized into a formal calendar and other festivals were added Very few matsuri or annual feasts are national holidays but they are included in the national calendar of annual events Most matsuri are local events and follow local traditions They may be sponsored by schools towns or other groups but are most often associated with Shinto shrines Some of the 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 Buddhist temples and only Buddhist temples for later The New Year s holiday January 1 3 is marked by the practice of numerous customs and the consumption of special foods Visiting Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to pray for family blessings in the coming year dressing in a kimono hanging special decorations eating noodles on New Year s Eve and playing a poetry card game are among these practices During Obon bon spirit altars are set up in front of Buddhist family altars which along with ancestral graves are cleaned in anticipation of the return of 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 family rituals in the home Religion and law EditSee also Freedom of religion in Japan In early Japanese history the ruling class was responsible for performing propitiatory rituals which later came to be identified as Shinto and for the introduction and support of Buddhism Later religious organization was used by regimes for political purposes for instance the Tokugawa government required each family to be registered as a member of a Buddhist temple In the early 19th century the government required that each family belong to a shrine instead and in the early 20th century this was supplemented with the concept of a divine right to rule bestowed on the emperor The Meiji Constitution reads Japanese subjects shall within limits not prejudicial to peace and order and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects enjoy freedom of religious belief Article 20 of the 1947 Constitution states Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State nor exercise any political authority No person shall be compelled to take part in any religious act celebration rite or practice The State and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity This change in constitutional rights provided mechanisms for limiting state educational initiatives designed to promote Shinto beliefs in schools and freed the populace from mandatory participation in Shinto rites 66 In postwar years the issue of the separation of Shinto and state arose in the Self Defense Force Apotheosis Case In 1973 Nakaya Takafumi a member of the Japanese Self Defense Forces and husband of Nakaya Yasuko died in a traffic accident 67 Despite Yasuko s refusal to provide relevant documents for her husband s enshrinement at the Yamaguchi prefectural National Protecting Shrine the prefectural Veterans Association requested the information from the Self Defense Forces and completed the enshrinement 67 As a result in 1973 Yasuko sued the Yamaguchi Prefectural Branch of the Self Defense Forces on the grounds that the ceremony of apotheosis violated her religious rights as a Christian 67 Although Yasuko won the case at two lower courts the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of Japan on June 1 1988 based on the precedent established by the Tsu City Shinto Groundbreaking Ceremony Case First the Supreme Court ruled that because the Veterans Association which was not an organ of the state had acted alone when arranging the ceremony of apotheosis no violation of Article 20 had occurred 68 Second the Supreme Court held that the Self Defense Forces provision of Takafumi s documents to the Veterans Association did not constitute a religious activity prohibited by Article 20 because neither the intention nor the effects of its action harmed or patronized any religion 69 Third the Supreme Court adopted a narrow interpretation of individual religious rights by ruling that violation of individual rights to religion did not occur unless the state or its organs coerced individuals to perform some religious activity or limited their religious freedom 70 On June 2 1988 a report by the Los Angeles Times described the Japanese Supreme Court s decision as a major setback for advocates of stronger separation of religion and state in Japan 71 On June 7 1988 an article published in the New York Times expressed concern that the Japanese Supreme Court s decision was likely to encourage the resurgence of State Shinto and nationalism 72 Because the prefectural National Protecting Shrines perform the same ceremony of apotheosis as the Yasukuni Shrine does the significance of this case also lies in its implications for the constitutionality of state patronage of and official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine 68 Opposition to organised religion EditShichihei Yamamoto argues that Japan has shown greater tolerance towards irreligion than the West 73 Comments against religion by notable figures Edit Shin ichi Hisamatsu philosopher and scholar who rejected theism claimed that God or Buddha as objective beings are mere illusions 74 Ito Hirobumi four time Prime Minister of Japan who reportedly said I regard religion itself as quite unnecessary for a nation s life science is far above superstition and what is religion Buddhism or Christianity but superstition and therefore a possible source of weakness to a nation I do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism which is almost universal in Japan because I do not regard it as a source of danger to the community 75 Hiroyuki Kato who headed the Imperial Academy from 1905 to 1909 and said Religion depends on fear 75 Haruki Murakami a Japanese novelist who wrote God only exists in people s minds Especially in Japan God s always has been a kind of flexible concept Look at what happened to the war Douglas MacArthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being a God and he did making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person 76 Ando Shoeki who denounced Confucian scholars and Buddhist clergy as spiritual oppressors of his age though he still venerated the gods of old Japan as a pantheist would equating them with the nature 77 Fukuzawa Yukichi who was regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan and found it impossible to combine modern learning with belief in gods 78 openly declaring It goes without saying that the maintenance of peace and security in society requires a religion For this purpose any religion will do I lack a religious nature and have never believed in any religion I am thus open to the charge that I am advising others to be religious while I am not so Yet my conscience does not permit me to clothe myself with religion when I have it not at heart Of religions there are several kinds Buddhism Christianity and what not From my standpoint there is no more difference between those than between green tea and black 79 Anti religious organisations Edit The Japan Militant Atheists Alliance Nihon Sentoteki Mushinronsha Domei also known as Senmu was founded in September 1931 by a group of antireligious people The alliance opposed the idea of kokutai the nation s founding myth the presence of religion in public education and the practice of State Shinto Their greatest opposition was towards the imperial system of Japan 80 Two months later in November 1931 socialist Toshihiko Sakai and Communist Takatsu Seido created the Japan Anti religion Alliance Nihon Hanshukyo Domei They opposed contributions to religious organizations prayers for practical benefits kito preaching in factories and the religious organizations of all stripes and viewed religion as a tool used by the upper class to suppress laborers and farmers 80 Demographics EditAccording to the annual statistical research on religion in 2015 by the Agency for Culture Affairs Government of Japan there are 181 thousand religious groups in Japan 81 According to surveys carried out in 2006 82 and 2008 83 less than 40 of the population of Japan identifies with an organized religion around 35 are Buddhists 3 to 4 are members of Shinto sects and derived religions and from fewer than 1 84 85 86 to 2 3 are Christians note 1 Organised religions in Japan Religion 1984 87 1996 88 2008 83 Japanese Buddhism 27 29 5 34 Shinto sects 3 1 3 Christianity 2 2 1 Organised religious affiliation in Japan by prefecture 1996 88 Prefecture Tendai or Shingon Jōdo or Shin Zen Nichiren Soka Gakkai Other Buddhist schools Buddhism overall Shinto sects Christianity noneHokkaido 3 13 3 8 2 3 2 2 2 31 7 2 1 65 3 Aomori Prefecture 1 10 3 5 6 3 4 2 3 25 3 2 1 71 7 Iwate Prefecture 2 6 1 12 8 0 2 3 25 9 0 1 73 1 Miyagi Prefecture 3 4 8 9 5 2 2 2 23 3 0 1 75 7 Akita Prefecture 0 6 9 9 5 3 2 2 21 4 3 0 75 6 Yamagata Prefecture 4 5 6 8 5 3 3 3 4 27 5 2 1 69 5 Fukushima Prefecture 5 2 4 8 5 2 0 3 3 21 2 0 0 78 8 Ibaraki Prefecture 7 1 4 1 2 2 3 2 20 2 1 1 77 8 Tochigi Prefecture 6 3 1 3 3 3 1 2 20 2 0 1 78 8 Gunma Prefecture 6 6 3 6 5 8 3 3 2 24 1 2 73 Saitama Prefecture 5 8 5 2 3 2 3 3 1 20 3 0 2 77 7 Chiba Prefecture 3 8 4 5 1 3 3 3 1 16 6 0 1 82 4 Tokyo 3 4 8 3 2 3 3 4 2 23 1 3 4 72 6 Kanagawa Prefecture 3 5 5 3 7 3 7 3 5 2 21 4 1 3 74 6 Niigata Prefecture 3 2 10 6 4 9 1 2 2 23 7 1 1 74 3 Toyama Prefecture 2 41 3 1 2 1 1 48 3 0 0 51 7 Ishikawa Prefecture 2 36 2 1 1 0 3 43 2 1 1 54 8 Fukui Prefecture 2 41 4 5 5 3 9 1 3 56 8 1 0 42 2 Yamanashi Prefecture 1 4 5 6 2 8 9 3 3 26 6 1 1 71 4 Nagano Prefecture 3 5 11 8 7 6 2 3 2 29 9 1 1 68 1 Gifu Prefecture 3 23 2 6 8 1 3 1 38 1 1 1 59 9 Shizuoka Prefecture 1 6 2 9 4 7 3 3 6 4 31 5 1 1 66 5 Aichi Prefecture 3 16 7 8 5 1 3 2 34 2 2 2 61 8 Mie Prefecture 3 22 9 4 2 1 2 2 35 1 1 1 62 9 Shiga Prefecture 3 26 7 3 2 2 3 0 37 9 0 1 61 1 Kyoto Prefecture 3 17 5 3 4 2 3 3 31 9 2 2 66 1 Osaka Prefecture 5 9 15 6 3 3 5 2 1 33 7 1 1 64 3 Hyōgo Prefecture 8 6 12 2 3 1 3 3 1 3 33 2 2 63 Nara Prefecture 4 2 17 3 1 3 3 2 30 5 0 1 68 5 Wakayama Prefecture 9 6 13 5 3 1 3 5 2 32 6 0 0 67 4 Tottori Prefecture 3 10 4 8 8 4 2 3 31 2 3 1 64 8 Shimane Prefecture 4 18 4 6 5 2 1 3 30 9 2 1 66 1 Okayama Prefecture 16 6 5 1 3 5 9 3 0 33 6 2 1 63 4 Hiroshima Prefecture 4 4 35 3 3 6 2 4 9 1 51 2 2 2 44 8 Yamaguchi Prefecture 3 21 9 3 8 2 3 8 1 35 5 1 1 62 5 Tokushima Prefecture 19 8 6 7 0 1 3 1 31 5 1 1 66 5 Kagawa Prefecture 14 18 1 2 3 1 39 0 1 60 Ehime Prefecture 9 3 6 7 5 3 2 3 1 27 3 1 2 69 7 Kōchi Prefecture 6 3 6 3 0 1 3 1 17 6 5 5 0 76 9 Fukuoka Prefecture 2 24 1 3 3 3 3 3 2 37 7 1 2 59 3 Saga Prefecture 4 21 9 6 1 3 2 3 40 0 0 60 Nagasaki Prefecture 4 9 19 5 3 6 5 1 3 3 39 1 2 5 1 53 8 Kumamoto Prefecture 2 28 4 3 2 2 1 38 4 0 1 61 6 Ōita Prefecture 3 20 7 4 7 3 3 1 35 4 2 1 61 6 Miyazaki Prefecture 3 18 2 3 3 3 3 3 33 5 3 8 1 61 7 Kagoshima Prefecture 2 29 8 1 2 3 6 43 8 3 0 53 2 Okinawa Prefecture 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 3 6 0 3 93 4 Japan 4 12 9 4 1 3 3 2 5 29 5 1 2 67 5 See also Edit Japan portal Religion portalAinu religion Koshinto Religion in Asia Religion in China Religion in Korea Religion in MongoliaFootnotes Edit According to the Dentsu survey of 2006 1 Protestants 0 8 members of the Catholic Church and 0 5 members of the Eastern Orthodox Church 82 Both mean the way of the divine or of the gods Other names are 13 Kannagara no michi way of the divine transmitted from time immemorial Kodo the ancient way Daido the great way Teido the imperial way During the history of China at the time of the spread of Buddhism to that country c 1st century CE the name Shendao identified what is currently known as Shenism the Chinese indigenous religion distinguishing it from the new Buddhist religion Brian Bocking A Popular Dictionary of Shinto Routledge 2005 ASIN B00ID5TQZY p 129 References Edit Japan Country CIA Government of the United States a b Population Estimates Monthly Report December 1 2020 Final estimates CIA World Factbook 1 Shinto 70 5 Buddhism 67 2 Christianity 1 5 Other 5 9 Percentages calculated using the official total population figure of 126 088 000 as of the end of 2020 2 ISSP PDF NHK 2018 宗教年鑑 令和3年版 Religious Yearbook 2021 PDF in Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan 2021 Population figures from the Agency for Cultural Affairs Religious Yearbook 2021 as of the end of 2020 are as follows 5 Shinto 87 924 087Buddhism 83 971 139Christianity 1 915 294Other 7 335 572 Percentages calculated using the official total population figure of 126 088 000 as of the end of 2020 2 Reischauer Edwin O Jansen Marius B 1988 The Japanese today change and continuity 2nd ed Belknap Press of Harvard University Press p 215 ISBN 978 0 674 47184 9 Kisala Robert 2006 Japanese Religions Pp 3 13 in Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions ed Paul L Swanson and Clark Chilson Honolulu University of Hawaii Press a b Engler Price 2005 p 95 a b Williams 2004 pp 4 5 Kawano Satsuki 2005 Ritual Practice in Modern Japan Ordering Place People and Action Honolulu University of Hawaii Press LeFebvre J 2015 Christian wedding ceremonies Nonreligiousness in contemporary Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42 2 185 203 Stuart D B Picken 1994 p xxiv Williams 2004 p 4 Williams George 2004 Shinto Religions of the World Philadelphia Infobase Publishing published 2009 p 6 ISBN 9781438106465 Retrieved 12 May 2019 Shinto is an action centered religion one based on actions and not a confessional religion one that requires a set of beliefs or a profession of faith John Nelson A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine 1996 pp 7 8 a b c d Richard Pilgrim Robert Ellwood 1985 Japanese Religion 1st ed Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice Hall Inc pp 18 19 ISBN 978 0 13 509282 8 a b c Breen Teeuwen 2010 p 1 a b Stuart D B Picken 1994 p xxi a b Sokyo Ono 1962 Shinto The Kami Way 1st ed Rutland VT Charles E Tuttle Co p 2 ISBN 978 0 8048 1960 2 OCLC 40672426 a b Stuart D B Picken 1994 p xxii a b c d e f Bestor Yamagata 2011 p 65 a b Earhart 2013 pp 286 287 Bestor Yamagata 2011 pp 64 65 Earhart 2013 pp 289 290 a b Earhart 2013 p 290 Shimazono Susumu 2004 From Salvation to Spirituality Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan Pacific Press a b c d Brown 1993 p 455 a b c Brown 1993 p 456 a b Brown 1993 p 454 Brown 1993 p 453 Agency for Cultural Affairs 2019 宗教年鑑 令和元年版 Religious Yearbook 2019 PDF in Japanese p 35 Agency for Cultural Affairs 2002 宗教年鑑 平成13年版 Religious Yearbook 2001 PDF in Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs p 31 ISBN 978 432406748 2 a b c Higashibaba 2002 p 1 Higashibaba 2002 p 5 a b c d e Higashibaba 2002 p 12 LeFebvre 2021 LeFebvre 2021 The Oppressor s Dilemma How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings 宗教年鑑 令和元年版 Religious Yearbook 2019 PDF in Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan 2019 p 35 US State Department 2007 Religious Freedom Report State gov 2007 09 14 Retrieved on 2011 06 15 Religion in Japan by prefecture 1996 statistics W Robinson David 2012 International Handbook of Protestant Education Springer Science amp Business Media p 521 ISBN 9789400723870 A 2006 Gallup survey however is the largest to date and puts the number at 6 which is much higher than its previous surveys It notes a major increase among Japanese youth professing Christ After fatalism Japan opens to faith mercatornet 17 October 2007 The 2006 Gallup poll however disclosed that an astounding 12 per cent of Japanese who claim a religion are now Christian making six per cent of the entire nation Christian R McDermott Gerald 2014 Handbook of Religion A Christian Engagement with Traditions Teachings and Practices Baker Academic ISBN 9781441246004 LeFebvre J 2015 Christian wedding ceremonies Nonreligiousness in contemporary Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42 2 185 203 Heide Fehrenbach Uta G Poiger 2000 Transactions transgressions transformations American culture in Western Europe and Japan Berghahn Books p 62 ISBN 978 1 57181 108 0 Kimura Junko Belk Russell September 2005 Christmas in Japan Globalization Versus Localization Consumption Markets amp Culture 8 3 325 338 doi 10 1080 10253860500160361 S2CID 144740841 A Little Faith Christianity and the Japanese Nippon com Your Doorway to Japan 22 November 2019 Christian culture in general has a positive image Emile A Nakhleh Keiko Sakurai and Michael Penn Islam in Japan A Cause for Concern Asia Policy 5 January 2008 Yasunori Kawakami Local Mosques and the Lives of Muslims in Japan Japan Focus May 2007 Abdu l Baha 1990 1875 The Secret of Divine Civilization Wilmette Illinois Baha i Publishing Trust p 111 ISBN 978 0 87743 008 7 Alexander Agnes Baldwin 1977 Sims Barbara ed History of the Bahaʼi Faith in Japan 1914 1938 Osaka Japan Japan Bahaʼi Publishing Trust pp 12 4 21 QuickLists Most Baha i Nations 2005 Association of Religion Data Archives 2005 Archived from the original on 2009 07 09 Retrieved 2009 07 04 Golub Jennifer August 1992 Japanese Attitudes Toward Jews PDF Pacific Rim Institute of the American Jewish Committee Jan Zwartendijk Collections Search United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Jewish Community of Japan Jewish Community of Kansai Chabad Japan Chabad Jewish Center of Japan Japan Gets First Ever Chief Rabbi September 17 2015 Japan Religion And Social Profile National Profiles International Data TheARDA www thearda com Retrieved 2022 01 28 2009 Jain Diaspora Conference Los Angeles USA JAINA Federation of Jain Associations in North America Retrieved 24 March 2012 Kim Ha tai April 1961 The Transmission of Neo Confucianism to Japan by Kang Hang a Prisoner of War Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 37 83 103 a b c Craig 1998 p 552 Craig 1998 p 553 a b LeFebvre J 2015 Christian wedding ceremonies Nonreligiousness in contemporary Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42 2 185 203 http nirc nanzan u ac jp nfile 4454 LeFebvre J 2021 The Oppressor s Dilemma How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings a b c Hardacre Helen 1989 Shintō and the State 1868 1988 Princeton NJ Princeton University Press p 153 ISBN 978 0691020525 a b Hardacre Helen 1989 Shintō and the State 1868 1988 Princeton NJ Princeton University Press p 154 ISBN 978 0691020525 Hardacre Helen 1989 Shintō and the State 1868 1988 Princeton NJ Princeton University Press pp 154 155 ISBN 978 0691020525 Hardacre Helen 1989 Shintō and the State 1868 1988 Princeton NJ Princeton University Press p 155 ISBN 978 0691020525 Schoenberger Karl 1988 06 02 Japan Widow Loses Religious Rights Case Los Angeles Times ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved 2018 05 01 Haberman Clyde Tokyo Journal Shinto Is Thrust Back Onto the Nationalist Stage Retrieved 2018 05 01 Shichihei Yamamoto 1992 The spirit of Japanese capitalism and selected essays Lanham Madison Books ISBN 9780819182944 Furuya Yasuo 1997 A history of Japanese theology Eerdmans Publishing p 94 ISBN 978 0802841087 a b Gulic Sidney L 1997 Evolution of the Japanese Social and Psychic BiblioBazaar p 198 ISBN 9781426474316 Hays Jeffrey July 2012 Religion in Japan and the Irreligious Japanese Facts and Details Retrieved 10 October 2015 Nakamura Hajime 1992 A comparative history of ideas 1st Indian ed Delhi Motilal Banarsidass p 519 ISBN 9788120810044 Thelle Notto R 1987 Buddhism and Christianity in Japan from conflict to dialogue 1854 1899 Honolulu University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0824810061 Robertson J M 2010 A Short History of Freethought Ancient and Modern Vol 2 Forgotten Books p 425 ISBN 978 1440055249 a b Ives Christopher 2009 Imperial Way Zen Ichikawa Hakugen s critique and lingering questions for Buddhist ethics Honolulu University of Hawai i Press ISBN 9780824833312 Iwai Noriko 11 October 2017 Measuring religion in Japan ISM NHK and JGSS PDF Report JGSS Research Center a b Dentsu Communication Institute Japan Research Center Sixty Countries Values Databook 世界60カ国価値観データブック a b 2008 NHK survey of religion in Japan 宗教的なもの にひかれる日本人 ISSP国際比較調査 宗教 から PDF NHK Culture Research Institute Mariko Kato February 24 2009 Christianity s long history in the margins The Japan Times The Christian community itself counts only those who have been baptized and are currently regular churchgoers some 1 million people or less than 1 percent of the population according to Nobuhisa Yamakita moderator of the United Church of Christ in Japan Christians use English to reach Japanese youth Mission Network News 3 September 2007 Archived from the original on 11 June 2010 The population of Japan is less than one percent Christian Heide Fehrenbach Uta G Poiger 2000 Transactions transgressions transformations American culture in Western Europe and Japan Berghahn Books p 62 ISBN 978 1 57181 108 0 followers of the Christian faith constitute only about a half percent of the Japanese population 1984 NHK survey of religion in Japan Results recorded in Bestor Yamagata 2011 p 66 a b Religion in Japan by prefecture 1996 English language bar table Sources EditLeFebvre J 2015 Christian Wedding Ceremonies Nonreligiousness in Contemporary Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42 2 185 203 http nirc nanzan u ac jp nfile 4454 LeFebvre J 2021 The Oppressor s Dilemma How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings Journal of Religion in Japan https brill com view journals jrj aop article 1163 22118349 20210001 article 1163 22118349 20210001 xml Earhart H Byron Japanese Religion Unity and Diversity in The Religious Life of Man Series Second ed Encino Calif Dickenson Publishing Co 1974 ISBN 0 8221 0123 8 Inoue Nobutaka et al Shinto a Short History London Routledge Curzon 2003 online Matsunaga Daigan Matsunaga Alicia 1996 Foundation of Japanese Buddhism Vol 1 The Aristocratic Age Los Angeles Tokyo Buddhist Books International ISBN 0 914910 26 4 Matsunaga Daigan Matsunaga Alicia 1996 Foundation of Japanese Buddhism Vol 2 The Mass Movement Kamakura and Muromachi Periods Los Angeles Tokyo Buddhist Books International ISBN 0 914910 28 0 Picken Stuart D B 1994 Essentials of Shinto an Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings Westport Conn Greenwood Press ISBN 9780313369797 Reader Ian 1991 Religion in Contemporary Japan Honolulu University of Hawaii Press Matsunami Kodo 2004 A guide to Japanese Buddhism PDF Tokyo Japan Buddhist Federation Archived PDF from the original on 2013 02 02 Retrieved 15 May 2021 Shimazono Susumu 2004 From Salvation to Spirituality Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan Trans Pacific Press Sims Barbara 1989 Traces That Remain A Pictorial History of the Early Days of the Baha i Faith Among the Japanese Osaka Japan Japan Baha i Publishing Trust Staemmler Birgit Dehn Ulrich ed Establishing the Revolutionary An Introduction to New Religions in Japan LIT Munster 2011 ISBN 978 3 643 90152 1 Victoria Bestor Theodore C Bestor Akiko Yamagata Routledge Handbook of Japanese Culture and Society Routledge 2011 ASIN B004XYN3E4 ISBN 0415436494 John Breen Mark Teeuwen Shinto in History Curzon Press Richmond Surrey England 2000 ISBN 0700711708 Steven Engler Gregory P Grieve Historicizing Tradition in the Study of Religion Walter de Gruyter Inc 2005 ISBN 3110188759 pp 92 108 George Williams Ann Marie B Bhar Martin E Marty Shinto Religions of the World Chelsea House 2004 ISBN 0791080978 John Breen Mark Teeuwen A New History of Shinto Blackwell 2010 ISBN 1405155167 Earhart H Religion in Japan Unity and Diversity Cengage Learning 2013 ISBN 1133934811 Delmer Brown John Whitney Hall The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 1 Cambridge University Press 1993 ISBN 0521223520 Ikuo Higashibaba Christianity in Early Modern Japan Kirishitan Belief and Practice Brill Academic Publishing 2002 ISBN 9004122907 Craig Edward 1998 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Volume 7 Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 0 415 07310 3External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Religion in Japan Wikiquote has quotations related to Religion in Japan Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article about Japan VIII Religion International Religious Freedom Report 2015 Japan most recent International Religious Freedom Report by the United States Department of State s Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor Fitzgerald Tim 2003 07 10 Religion and the Secular in Japan Problems in History Social Anthropology and the Study of Religion Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies Kavanagh Christopher M and Jong Jonathan 2020 Is Japan Religious 14 1 DOI 10 1558 jsrnc 39187 pp 152 180 https journals equinoxpub com OLDJSRNC article view 39187 LeFebvre J 2015 Christian wedding ceremonies Nonreligiousness in contemporary Japan Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42 2 185 203 http nirc nanzan u ac jp nfile 4454 LeFebvre J 2021 The Oppressor s Dilemma How Japanese State Policy toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings Journal of Religion in Japan https brill com view journals jrj aop article 1163 22118349 20210001 article 1163 22118349 20210001 xml Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Religion in Japan amp oldid 1139173020, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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