The Japanese religious tradition is made up of several major components, including Shinto, Japan's earliest religion, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Christianity has been only a minor movement in Japan.
Shinto ("the way of the gods") is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism.
The overriding belief in Shinto is to promote harmony and purity in all aspects of life. Humans are thought of as being fundamentally good, and evil is caused by evil spirits. The purpose of Shinto, therefore, is to pray and offer to the kami to keep away evil spirits.
What are the main beliefs of Shinto? The main beliefs of Shinto are the importance of purity, harmony, respect for nature, family respect, and subordination of the individual before the group.
Death is seen as impure and conflicting with the essential purity of Shinto shrines. For the same reason, cemeteries are not built near Shinto shrines. The result of this is that most Japanese have Buddhist or secular funerals, and cremation is common.
After Life
The spiritual energy, or kami, in everyone is released and recycled at the time of death. The spirits live in another world, the most sacred of which is called “the other world of heaven.” These other worlds are not seen as a paradise or a punishment. Instead the worlds are simply where the spirits reside.
By the the end of the 19th Century, Japan decided to open its borders again. In 1858, the fumie practice was abolished in Nagasaki. In 1873, Japan's long ban on Christianity was finally lifted - more than two centuries after it was first put in place.
There is no concept of original sin in Shinto. On the contrary, it is believed that all sin and pollution can be removed by harae. This does not mean, however, that there is no acceptance of responsibility for restitution for sin.
In fact, until approximately 150 years ago, Shinto (and local cults in general) was deeply connected to Japanese Buddhism: Buddhist authors were the first to write doctrines and tales about the Japanese local gods or Kami, and most shrines dedicated to the Kami used to belong to Buddhist temples or were in fact ...
Christmas is in the air! While it isn't a national holiday in Japan, since only about 1 percent of the whole population in Japan is Christian, it's still felt throughout the country.
Since ancient times, Japanese people have revered kami, the gods of Shintō. And for over a millennium they have also practiced Buddhism, sometimes conflating Buddhas with their native divinities.
China is a country with many religions. Buddhism, Taoism and Islam are quite popular, while there are also Christian believers (both Catholic and Protestant). Chinese citizens have freedom of religious belief.
Christianity was prohibited in Japan during the Edo Period until 1873, about five years after the Meiji Restoration, and some Christians who openly professed their faith before that date were still prosecuted.
Today, Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, and the majority of Japanese people practice a combination of Shintoism and Buddhism. Some people may not consider themselves to be religious, but will still take part in Shinto rituals and follow a Shinto way of life.
Because ritual rather than belief is at the heart of Shinto, Japanese people don't usually think of Shinto specifically as a religion - it's simply an aspect of Japanese life. This has enabled Shinto to coexist happily with Buddhism for centuries.
Presentation of food offerings—rice, sake wine, rice cakes, fish, seaweed, vegetables, salt, water, etc., are offered but animal meat is not, because of the taboo on shedding blood in the sacred area.
Answer and Explanation: The fundamental human problem in Shinto is interference by evil spirits. Shinto depicts the world and human beings as naturally good, but evil spirits destabilize humanity.
Interestingly, before the 18th century, the country was largely vegetarian; both the Buddhist and Shinto religions omitted meat and dairy for ethical reasons. However, now most Buddhists and Shintoists do eat meat.
Legal Framework. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and requires the state to refrain from religious education or any other religious activity. It prohibits religious organizations from exercising any political authority or receiving privileges from the state.
Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both. Religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today.
In contrast to their attitude toward Buddhism and Shinto, many Japanese people see Christianity as a religion. According to McClung (1999), the Japanese tend to see Christianity as a Western religion.
Things which are usually regarded as bad in Shinto are: things which disturb kami. things which disturb the worship of kami. things which disrupt the harmony of the world. things which disrupt the natural world.
Japan perceives the butterfly to be a 'soul of the living and the dead', as a result of the popular belief that spirits of the dead take the form of a butterfly when on their journey to the other world and eternal life.
In Shinto, man is born pure without sin. Our soul originates from the spiritual world of Kami. In society, it is believed that all people are assigned certain roles in life by Kami and should serve with moral sincerity.