 |
Religions
 |
|
Modern Japanese people on the whole are not very religious, but the passion for traditions prompts them to perform religious rituals. The traditional Japanese religious ideology is based on the synthesis of the “three teachings” (sankyo) – Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism, or, to be more precise, neo-Confucianism. Shinto (from Shinto – “the way of the gods”) is the native Japanese religion that was state religion after the “Meiji restoration” in 1868. It unites all originally Japanese (i.e. not adopted from the continent) aspects of the national culture. Buddhism “patronizes” philosophical and metaphysical aspects (including the concept of the afterlife). Confucianism focuses on ethic issues, especially when it comes to relations between people and society (the state). Each occupying its own niche, the three religious teachings are united into one whole. The Japanese usually attend both Shinto and Buddhist temples between which there is no clear opposition. Many believe that the deities of the Buddhist pantheon were embodied in Japan in the Shinto kami. Some Dao concepts which came to Japan from Chine also assimilated with the “three teachings”.
In the middle of the 16th century Japan first learnt about Christianity. It quickly spread in the Land of the Rising Sun despite the persecutions of the Edo era (1600 – 1868). In the 19th – 20th centuries a number of new religious teachings emerged – the so-called “new religions” (sinsyukyo) which have millions of followers. The most popular among them are the Tenrikyo, Soka Gakkai, Seityo-no ie, Omoto, Reyukai, Misogikyo, Sekai kyuseikyu and other sects.
 |
|
 |
|
|
Miko priestesses, dancing at temple.
Japan. The Japanese. Early 20th cent.
|
Miko priestesses, dancing at temple.
Japan. The Japanese. Early 20th cent.
|
|
Praying in Shinto temple. Parents pray for successful passing of entrance examinations by their children.
Japan. The Japanese.
Kupin K., 2002
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
Shinto priest.
Japan. The Japanese, mid-to-late 19th c.
|
Beggar priests.
Japan. The Japanese, mid-to-late 19th c.
|
|
Buddhist secular.
Japan. The Japanese, by 1906 mid-to-late 19th c.
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
Great Buddha.
Japan. Kamakura. The Japanese.
Maykova N., 2006
|
Golden pavilion of Kinkakudzi.
Japan. Kyoto. The Japanese.
Maykova N., 2005
|
|
|
|
|
 |
