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Japan has two religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, which coexist and are the foundation of Japanese life and culture. However, the coexistence of these two religions for more than 1,000 years is unusual, so I explored history to discover how this situation transpired.
Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan
Shintoism was later mixed with elements of Buddhism to create unique spiritual values for the Japanese. This mixing of Shinto and Buddhist elements is a trait of Japanese religion.
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Shinto is an indigenous religion based on the worship of nature. Due to its shape, Japan is geographically diverse and has a varied climate, stretching over 3,500km from the north to the south.
Japan is famous for natural disasters. Since ancient times, the Japanese have believed that natural power is stronger than human power and revered it. We built shrines to pray to deities for protection from disasters. These geographic and climate conditions have influenced the Japanese way of thinking and attitudes towards nature.
Shinto has no founder, no dogma, or scripture, and its most important concept is purity. The greatest impurity is death. Therefore, the Japanese go to shrines for occasions such as weddings or baby's first shrine visit.
Shintoism and Buddhism have coexisted in Japan since the 6th century, when Buddhism was introduced from China. Shinto is polytheistic and tends to incorporate rather than exclude foreign gods.
In the 9th century, the Confucianism theory appeared, considering the Shinto deity to be a manifestation of Buddha.
Co-existence with Buddhism and Shintoism through a process of trial and error, rather than conflicting with it.
The mixing of these religions developed the unique value system of the Japanese.
In the Meiji Period after 1868, Shinto was made Japan's state religion. In Shito, the Emperor of Japan is believed to be a descendant of Amaterasu-Omikami, the founder of Japan. Therefore, the Emperor was used politically to foster a national identity with the Emperor at its center.
After WWII, Shinto and the state were separated. The Japanese have a practical, syncretic, and polytheistic approach to religion. It is an instrument for petitioning the gods to grant requests such as success in business, a school entrance exam, or recovery from illness.
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