Japan
The religious landscape of contemporary Japan is characterized by a dynamic combination of syncretism, secularism, and new religious movements. Mahayana Buddhism arrived on the island in the 6th century CE and blended extensively with Shinto, the indigenous tradition of Japan. State Shinto evolved in the 19th century with the advent of the Japanese Empire and came to be characterized by emperor worship and the suppression of non-Shinto faiths. The imperialistic tendencies of State Shinto led to a constitutional separation of religion and state after Japan’s defeat in World War II. The emperor remains the highest authority of Shinto but his role is purely ceremonial, and Japanese politics are firmly secular. Most Japanese practice Shinto rituals for life events, and Christian-style weddings due to the influx of Western popular culture. Despite engaging in these faith-based rituals, 70% of Japanese identify as belonging to no religion. New religious movements, often rooted in Shinto-Buddhist concepts, have become very popular and may count tens of millions of adherents.
ESSAYS ON JAPAN
Religion in Ancient, Classical, and Feudal Japan
Ancient Japanese life was shaped by Shinto, an indigenous religious tradition based on nature worship. The Classical Japanese dynasties began in 250 CE with the emergence of the Yamato clans, which were headed by religious patriarchs who performed sacred rites to ensure the longevity of their clans. Buddhism and Confucianism were first widely introduced in Japan in the sixth century. Members of the Shinto-dominated Yamato court largely resisted these new traditions and the general public continued to worship Shinto deities. During the Nara Period (710-794), Emperor Shomu promoted the spread of Buddhism, naming the Buddhist clergy the guardians of the state, marking the beginning of the Buddhist-Shinto syncretism that would dominate Japanese culture. During the Heian period (794-1185), Chinese ideals, and particularly the Mandate of Heaven, influenced the Japanese imperial lineages. Heian emperor Shotoku was a Buddhist devotee who sent Buddhist missionaries abroad, but also adopted Confucian models of prescribed social class. In the late twelfth century, the first of the feudal dynasties, the Kamakuras, popularized Pure Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism among the masses. Shinto regained some popularity after the Japanese defeat of the Mongols in the 1200s was attributed to the kamikazes, typhoons sent by Shinto deities. Shinto regained its religious preeminence in the fourteenth century with the promulgation of a new doctrine that highlighted the divine lineage of the Japanese emperor and the divine nature of the Japanese people. In the late 1500s, Nobunaga, a powerful military leader, began a crusade to reunify Japan. Protests by Buddhist clergy were met with harsh reprisals and many Buddhist temples were destroyed.
Isolationism and Imperialism in Early Modern Japan
During the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), when the emperor was sidelined by the feudal regime of the Tokugawa shogun, Confucian principles dominated the social order while Buddhism and Shinto guided religious practice. Christian missionaries from Portugal and Spain began to arrive in Japan in the early seventeenth century and converted many peasants, whom the shogun persecuted for both real and perceived breaches of loyalty. Thousands of Christians were executed, leading to the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638). In response, the government required all Japanese to register at Buddhist or Shinto temples as a way to maintain social control. Missionaries were banned from most of the country as part of a broader closing off from Western influence. Shinto was reasserted as the cultural tie between political leaders and the common people, forming a new national Shinto identity. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 paved the way for the rapid modernization of Japan, while declaring Shinto the state religion and reinstating the formal supremacy of the emperor. Japan entered the twentieth century as an emerging world power, developing an expansionist policy legitimized through rhetoric reviving the historical Mandate of Heaven. Japan’s military offensives in the 1930s across East and Southeast Asia were viewed through a Shinto-missionary lens. During World War II, the emperor required all Japanese subjects to acknowledge his divinity and practice State Shinto, with protesters subjected to persecution. Defeat led to a period of American occupation, during which State Shinto was abolished. The office of the emperor was preserved but its functions became purely symbolic. With the end of occupation in 1952, power was transferred to a secular parliamentary democracy.
Religious Syncretism in Modern Japan
Since World War II, new religious movements have expanded rapidly in Japan. Most combine elements from Buddhism and Shinto, although some also draw on Christianity, Judaism, and other traditions. New religions range from the highly popular Soka Gakkai, an offshoot of Nichiren Buddhism, to cults like Aum Shinrikyo, a movement that combines Buddhism, Christianity, and Yogic philosophy. In 1995, Aum Shinrikyo, now known as Aleph, carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo transit system, costing a dozen lives and poisoning a thousand others. Police raids revealed that the group had stockpiled a significant number of explosives and chemical weapons. Several of its leaders were arrested, and some were dealt death sentences for their role in the attacks. Religious practice in Japan today is marked by its syncretism. Most Japanese practice a blend of Shinto and Buddhism, but weddings are often performed in a Christian style. The emperor remains the symbol of the state and Shinto rituals are used in the coronation of the emperor. Despite Japan’s official separation of church and state, devout followers of Shinto still regard the emperor as divinely mandated, and many public holidays are based on Shinto rituals. Due to its complex role in the Second World War, Shinto’s relation to Japanese history and identity remains politically sensitive. Worship by state officials at the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates those who died in service to the emperor during wartime from 1867 to 1945 and includes fourteen Class-A war criminals, is considered problematic or even insulting by many victims of Japanese occupation in Korea and China.
Contemporary Affairs
Due to Japan’s secularist society, religious conflicts have generally not marred the country’s recent affairs. However, there are some significant events to be noted including the refusal of members of the Japanese cabinet to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in August 2010, marking the first time no members of the government were present at the annual religious ceremonies. The shrine is a controversial Shinto place of worship honoring Japan’s war dead, including fourteen high-level war criminals from the Second World War, and attendance by public figures had led to tensions with Japan’s neighbors in the past. Additionally, in June 2012, Japanese authorities finally captured the last fugitive suspected of carrying out the 1995 attack, Katsuya Takahashi, ending one of the longest manhunts in Japanese history at 17 years. Takahashoi was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo sect involved in perpetrating the 1995 nerve gas attacks that killed a dozen people and injured thousands in the Tokyo subway. The sect, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, declined dramatically in popularity following the attacks but currently maintains approximately a thousand followers in Japan. Lastly, in March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in March 2011 and nearly caused a nuclear meltdown. The country has devoted a significant amount of resources to stabilize and upgrade the country’s nuclear facilities.
Religious Freedom in Japan
Japan has one of the lowest rates of government intervention in religion anywhere in the world, as well as a notable absence of religious conflict. This has been the case since the separation of the Shinto religion and the Japanese state following the Second World War, and the government remains committed to guaranteeing freedom of conscience and worship. Religious groups need to register in order to receive tax benefits, but the process is not discriminatory and, as of 2006, there are over 180,000 certified religious organizations operating in the country. This permissiveness was only moderately altered by the deadly 1995 nerve gas attacks on the Tokyo subway, perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. The group had received certification in 1989 but lost it following the attacks. Yet, although many of its leaders were arrested and the organization was placed under supervision, the sect was not banned. In the aftermath of the attacks, the government passed a law that enhanced its ability to supervise religious organizations. This included greater disclosure requirements on the assets of religious groups and granted civil authorities the ability to suspend any of their actions that violate regulations on for-profit activities conducted by religious organizations.
Religion in the Japanese Constitution
Although the Japanese Constitution does not explicitly require the complete separation of church and state, a 1977 Japanese Supreme Court decision said that the document "made it an ideal to separate church and state completely." Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all and declares that no religious organization shall receive any privileges from the state. Article 89 reinforces the latter policy, stating that public money cannot be used for the benefit of any religious organization. In recent years, these articles have given rise to controversy because government funds have occasionally been donated to religious organizations for special events. The Constitution forbids the state from forcing individuals to participate in any type of religious practice or act. The state is not allowed to provide religious education and is not allowed to sponsor religious activities. Article 14 forbids institutional or personal discrimination based on religious creed, and Article 19 states that freedom of thought and conscience shall not be violated by the government.
Article 14: Non-discrimination
All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Peers and peerage shall not be recognized. No privilege shall accompany any award of honor, decoration or any distinction, nor shall any such award be valid beyond the lifetime of the individual who now holds or hereafter may receive it.
Article 20: Freedom of Religion
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.
Article 89: Use of Public Capital
No public money or other property shall be expended or appropriated for the use, benefit or maintenance of any religious institution or association, or for any charitable, educational or benevolent enterprises not under the control of public authority.
Article 14: Equal Under Law
All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.
(2) Peers and peerage shall not be recognized.
(3) No privilege shall accompany any award of honor, decoration or any distinction, nor shall any such award be valid beyond the lifetime of the individual who now holds or hereafter may receive it.
Article 19: Freedom of Thought
Freedom of thought and conscience shall not be violated.
Article 20: Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all. No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State nor exercise any political authority.
(2) No person shall be compelled to take part in any religious acts, celebration, rite or practice.
(3) The state and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.
Article 89: Public Funds and Religion
No public money or other property shall be expended or appropriated for the use, benefit or maintenance of any religious institution or association, or for any charitable, educational or benevolent enterprises not under the control of public authority.
