Shinto: meaning "the way of the gods", is Japan's indigenous religion and is

practiced by approximately 51% of the population. Shinto originated in

prehistoric times as a religion with a respect for nature and for particular
sacred sites. Shinto worship of kami is performed at shrines. Especially
important is the act of purification before visiting these shrines.

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

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

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, 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 Mahayana Buddhism of the time period. Two schools of
Zen were established, Rinzai and Soto; a third, Ōbaku, formed in 1661.

The Toshodaiji was an early Buddhist temple in Nara.

Another form of Buddhism known as Jodo-kyo, or Pure Land Buddhism, arrived in the
Kamakura period. Pure Land Buddhism 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.
Jodo-kyo attracted the merchant and farmer classes. After Honen, Jodo-kyo's head
missionary in Japan, died, the form split into two schools: Jodo-shu, which focuses on
repeating the phrase many times, and the more liberal Jodo 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 Jodo Shinshu.

The monk Nichiren established a more radical form of Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism,
which praised the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren's teaching was revolutionary, and the shogun
distrusted him; when Nichiren predicted that the Mongols would invade Japan, the
shogun exiled him. Nichiren was a progressive, the first Japanese thinker to declare that
women could gain enlightenment. Nichiren Buddhism is the second largest Buddhist sect
in Japan today. Sub-sects of Nichiren Buddhism include Nichiren-shu, Nichiren Shoshu
and Soka Gakkai, a controversial denomination whose political wing forms the
conservative New Komeito Party, Japan's third largest political party.

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

[edit] New religions

From left, Shin Hirata, Katsuya Takahashi, and Naoko Kikuchi were perpetrators in
attacks in the Tokyo subway and belonged to the new religion Aum Shinrikyo, renamed
Aleph.
Main article: Shinshūkyō

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

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

[edit] Minority religions

[edit] Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í Faith in Japan

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

[edit] Christianity

Main article: Christianity in Japan

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

Near the end of the 16th century, Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto, despite a 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
continued the persecution of Christianity with several further edicts.

In 1873, following the Meiji restoration, the ban was rescinded, freedom of religion was
promulgated, and sustained Protestant missionary work began. Today, there are around
1–3 million Christian adherents of various denominations.[13][14] Most of them live in
Western Japan, where the missionaries' activities were greatest during the 16th century.
Since World War II, the number of Japanese Christians has been slowly increasing.

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

Main article: Islam in Japan

Estimates of the Muslim population have been placed at around 115,000–125,000,[15] of

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

[edit] Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Japan

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

[edit] Judaism

Main article: Judaism in Japan

Judaism is practiced by a small community in Japan.[16] The US Department of State

estimates that 2,000 Jews live in Japan.[14]

[edit] Ryukyuan Shinto

Main article: Ryukyuan Shinto

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

[edit] Religious practice

A type of traditional Shinto crown, called Ten-Kan (literally "heavenly crown"), at the
Otsu Festival, Tenson Shrine.

Most Japanese participate in rituals and customs derived from several religious traditions.
Life cycle events are often marked by visits to a Shinto shrine. The birth of a new baby is
celebrated with a formal shrine visit at the age of about one month, as are the third, fifth,
and seventh birthdays and the official beginning of adulthood at age twenty. Wedding
ceremonies are often performed by Shinto priests, but Christian wedding ceremonies,
called howaito uedingu ("white wedding"), are also popular. These use liturgy but are not
always presided over by an ordained priest.

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. Some Japanese do not perform
ancestral ceremonies at all.

There are two categories of holidays in Japan. Matsuri (festivals), which are largely of
Shinto origin and relate to the cultivation of rice and the spiritual well-being of the local
community, and nenjyū gyōji (annual events), 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 nencho gyo 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.

Most holidays are secular in nature, but the two most significant for the majority of
Japanese – New Year's Day and Obon – involve visits to Shinto shrines or Buddhist
temples, respectively. 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 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.

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

[edit] Religion and law

In early Japanese history, the ruling class was responsible for performing 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 for purposes of social control. In the late 19th century,
rightists created State Shinto, requiring that each family belong to a shrine parish and that
the concepts of emperor worship and a national Japanese "family" be taught in the
schools.

Article 20 of the 1947 Constitution states, "Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all. No

religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any
political authority". Separation of religion and the state was mandated by the occupation
of Japan because of the role of State Shinto in furthering Japan's military aggression in
Asia before and during World War II.

[edit] See a