Religion in Japan

thumb|250px|From left to right: idols of [[Benzaiten (Saraswati), Kangiten (Ganesha) and Bishamonten (Kubera) in the Buddhist Daishō-in temple in Hatsukaichi]]

thumb|250px|A ritual at the , the sacred [[Shinto site of the descent to earth of Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the grandson of goddess Amaterasu.]]

Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. Syncretic combinations of both, known generally as , are common; they represented Japan's dominant religion before the rise of State Shinto in the 19th century.

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. 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. Some identify as , yet this does not signify rejection or apathy towards faith. The is a specified identity, which is used mostly to affirm regular, "normal" religiosity while rejecting affiliation with distinct movements perceived as foreign or extreme.

Main religions

Shinto

, also , is the indigenous religion of Japan and of most of the people of Japan. George Williams classifies Shinto as an action-centered religion; it focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently in order to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient roots. The written historical records of the and 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. suited to 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. from the written Chinese (), combining two kanji: , meaning "spirit" or ; and , meaning a philosophical path or study (from the Chinese word ).

Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, 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 . Traditional religions, challenged by the transformation, underwent a reshaping themselves, provided space for the proliferation of new religious movements.

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. 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. These new religions also provided cohesion through a unified doctrine and practice shared by the nationwide community. The largest new religion, Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist sect founded in 1930, gathers around 4 million members. Scholars in Japan have estimated that between 10% and 20% of the population belongs to the new religions, from the kingdom of Baekje in Korea. It was a period of intense immigration from Korea, horse riders from northeast Asia, which had been unified under the Sui dynasty becoming the crucial power on the mainland.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 culturally influential was Zen, which focused on meditation and attaining enlightenment in this life. 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 form of independent schools in the Kamakura period, although elements of it were practiced in Japan for centuries beforehand. It emphasizes the role of Amitabha Buddha and promises that reciting the phrase will result in being taken by Amitabha upon death to the "Western Paradise" or "Pure Land", where Buddhahood is more easily attained. Pure Land attracted members from all of the different classes, from farmers and merchants to noblemen and samurai clans, such as the Tokugawa clan.

There are two primary branches of Pure Land Buddhism today: , which focuses on repeating the phrase many times as taught by Honen, and , which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary, as taught by Shinran. Two smaller schools of Pure Land Buddhism exist, Ji-shu and Yuzu Nembutsu, although these are significantly smaller than their larger counterparts.

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 and , and lay organisations like and —a denomination whose political wing forms the , Japan's third largest political party. Common to most lineages of Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting of (or Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) and the inscribed by Nichiren.

, there were 355,000+ Buddhist monks, priests and leaders in Japan, an increase of over 40,000 compared to 2000.

Japanese new religions

center|thumb|[[Sukyo Mahikari Headquarter, Takayama, Gifu, Japan.]]

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.

Abrahamic religions

Christianity

In 2019, there were 1.9 million Christians in Japan, most of them living in the western part of Japan, where missionaries' activities were greatest during the 16th century.

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. In that year, the three Jesuits Francis Xavier, Cosme de Torres and Juan Fernández, landed in Kagoshima, in Kyushu, on 15 August.

These missionaries were successful in converting large numbers of people in Kyushu, including peasants, former Buddhist monks, and members of the warrior class. In 1559, a mission to the capital, Kyoto, was started.

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.

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.

In 1996, Nagasaki Prefecture had the highest percentage of Christians, at about 5.1%. As of 2007 there were 32,036 Christian priests and pastors in Japan.

Throughout the latest century, some Western customs, including Western style weddings, Valentine's Day and Christmas have become popular among many Japanese. In 2015, 60–70% of weddings performed in Japan were Christian-style. Christianity and Christian culture has a generally positive image in Japan.

Islam

thumb|150px|[[Tokyo Mosque, built in Ottoman style]]

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. In 2007, the Muslim immigrant population was estimated to be 10,000–50,000 people, while the "estimated number of Japanese Muslims ranges from thousands to tens of thousands".

Bahá'í Faith

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. The first Japanese convert was , who lived in Honolulu, and accepted the faith in 1902. The second convert was . The first Bahá'í convert on Japanese soil was in 1915. In 2005, the Association of Religion Data Archives, relying on World Christian Encyclopedia, estimated some 15,700 Bahá'ís.

Judaism

Judaism (ユダヤ教 Yudayakyō) in Japan is practiced by about 2,000 Jews living in the country. 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. 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 and Kobe. The Chabad-Lubavitch organization has two centers in Tokyo.

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

Dharmic religions

Hinduism

thumb|upright|170px|A depiction of the [[Hindu deity Krishna playing the flute in a temple constructed in 752CE 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 China, India, Nepal, and Bali. 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 (Lakshmi). Various Hindu deities, including the aforementioned, are worshipped in Shingon Buddhism. This denomination and all other forms of Tantric Buddhism have multiple sources in common with Tantric Hinduism.

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there were 25,597 Hindus in Japan in 2020.

Sikhism

Sikhism (シク教 Sikukyō) is presently a minority religion in Japan mainly followed by families migrated from India. Sikh communities formed in the 1920s, primarily in Kobe and later in Tokyo. The Sikh population, though small, established gurdwaras. Notable figures include Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala who visited the country during 1903–1904.

Jainism

Jainism (ジャイナ教 Jainakyō) is a minority religion in Japan. , there were three Jain temples in Japan. Minakata Kumagusu published the first simplified Japanese translation of Jainist concepts for common people.

Traditional religions of East Asia

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

thumb|150px|Harimizu [[utaki (Harimizu Shrine), a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture]]

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 , or life essence.

One of its most ancient features is the belief , 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

The Ainu religion 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

thumb|150px|Temple of [[Guan Yu|Guandi (關帝廟; Japanese: Kanteibyō, Chinese: Guāndìmiào) in Yokohama]]

Most Chinese people in Japan practice the Chinese folk religion (), also known as Shenism (), 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

thumb|150px|Seitenkyū (聖天宮; Chinese: Shèngtiāngōng, "Temple of the Holy Heaven"), a [[Taoist temple in Sakado, Saitama]]

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

thumb|150px|Kōshibyō (孔子廟, "Temple of Confucius") of the [[Ashikaga Gakko, the oldest Confucian school in Japan]]

Confucianism (儒教 Jukyō) was introduced from Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.” 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. 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.

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.
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".
Hiroyuki Kato, who headed the Imperial Academy from 1905 to 1909 and said: "Religion depends on fear".
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, 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...".

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.

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.

According to surveys carried out in 2006 and 2008, 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% to 2.3% are Christians.