Berkley Center

If you are walking along a bustling intersection or even a small, quiet neighborhood in Nagoya, it is not unusual to find Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples hidden within the normal scenery of towering buildings and closely knitted houses. I recall how awestruck I was when my host family took me to visit Nagoya’s prized shrine, Atsuta Jingu, and I noticed how beautifully it was surrounded by greenery, which masked the urban area on the shrine’s outskirts. At the entrance of Atsuta a grand torii (gate) stands (a common characteristic of all Shinto shrines), signaling the division between the sacred and the outside world. In a remarkably dazzling way, the shrines and temples are not separated from the city, but still own their private space marked by a temple’s peaking roof or a shrine’s torii.

During my short month in Japan, I have observed that religion, like a shrine, is smoothly concealed in such a way that religious traditions can easily be referred to as cultural customs. This makes the Japanese appear nonreligious.

Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity, Japan’'s three major religions, have long histories and special customs in which many people engage. Shinto is the oldest of the three, dating back to the fifth century, a time when clans began uniting and forming a creation story that explained how the sun goddess, Amaterasu, divinely created Japan, its people, and emperor. Belief in the emperor’s divinity was central to the religion until WWII, but many of Shinto'’s traditions remain today. Jinja, Shinto shrines, are sacred places found throughout Japan can be found throughout Japan where people can pray to kami (gods), bring offerings, and perform rituals. Shinto is based on an appreciation of life and nature, and a necessity for purification in order to receive blessings from the gods. Some traditions include going to shrines to pray during Oshogatsu, the New Year, and omiyamairi, a time when newborns go to a shrine with their parents to receive a blessing.

Buddhism entered Japan via Korea during the mid-sixth century. Contrary to Shinto, Buddhism’'s focus is on the afterlife, meaning that many Buddhist rituals involve honoring the dead, including going to ohaka, grave sites, to pray to the family'’s ancestors and give them offerings. In addition to this, some families make small altars inside their homes to honor the deceased. Charms known as omamori can be purchased at shrines and temples for reasons varying from having good luck in school to finding a koibito, lover.

Christianity was introduced to Japan via the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century, but because the Tokugawa government rejected foreign influence during that time period the number of Japanese Christians were few. Today about 2 percent of Japan'’s population considers themselves Christians, but interestingly most Japanese participate in two Christian traditions: Christian wedding ceremonies and Christmas. Western weddings are viewed as fashionable, and can often be inexpensive, especially if the ceremony is held in America. A Japanese wedding can range from $10,000 to $3,000,000 (wedding kimonos are quite costly)! Christmas is also celebrated but in a commercial fashion; parents give presents to their children, and Christmas parties are held with goodies such as fried chicken and cake. However, the holiday is mostly a time for couples to celebrate and view the beautifully decorated metropolis together.

It is evident that religion plays a major role in the daily lives of the Japanese, but paradoxically some Japanese will deny that they are religious. A friend explained that for the Japanese, religion is a delicate subject because “it is something that you cannot grasp completely.” Religion is understood as something private that cannot easily be discussed, and because of issues with cults religion may also be viewed as dangerous. The 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attacks by the cult “Aum Shinrikyo” have added to the wariness towards using the word "“religious"” because the actions of the cult gave the word a negative connotation. Although the Japanese may have these sentiments regarding the use of the word, people still say that they belong to a certain religion. I spoke with someone who admitted that she considers herself a Buddhist, but does not consider herself religious, though she goes to temples to pray for her family and to her ancestors. She also mentioned that she visits Shinto shrines to pray during the New Year and to attend festivals. Intertwining Buddhism, Shinto, and Christianity are not uncommon; a person may say that they are Buddhist but still go to a Shinto shrine to participate in a ritual. Some Japanese couples have a Christian wedding because they believe it is more tasteful and also have a traditional Shinto wedding to please their parents. Also, it is not a rarity to find a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple coupled together or in the same vicinity, such as Kyoto’s Kiyomizudera, a Buddhist temple that encompasses a shrine with a kami dedicated to helping those in search of romance—the Jishu Jinja.

If religion is a shrine, and culture is the outside world, it seems as if religion in Japan has no torii (gate) to signify the division between the two. Because these customs are generally practiced by the majority regardless of whether an individual claims a particular religion or not, and because the word "“religion"” can sometimes be viewed as negative, it has been difficult for me to understand whether these customs are religious values or cultural values. As my friend answered when I asked her why the Kiyomizudera and Jishu Jinja were connected, “"It'’s very Japanese."” Perhaps there is no need to distinguish.