What is Japanese people’s religion?　(Do you like Miyazaki movies?)

If you ask young Japanese people “What is your religion?” They might answer “I don’t have one”.
They celebrate new years going to see first sunrise, then go to shine and pray happiness of new year- It’s Shinto.
They also enjoy Halloween, and Christmas as a foreign festival- It’s Chriscianity.
They got merry at Shrine, Church, or Temple, even they don’t actually believe one.
It’s confusing for foreign people to understand what is Japanese people’s religion.


But actually most of Japanese people naturally follow costume, or basic idea of Shinto and Buddism.
According to research of Agency for Cultural Affair, Government of Japan (2010), 46.8% of them believe Shinto, 42.6% of them believe Buddism, 2.5% of them believe Christianity, and 8.2 of them believe something else.

Shinto is basically idea of respect nature. Animism. They believe God of Sun, God of Sea, God of Wind, God of Kitten, Power of word etc… they believe there’s eight million God exist around them. It might made someone angry, but for us, foreign God can also one of God we can respect, so we’re generous about other people’s God.

Shinto is not like other religion. No bible, no strict rule. It more like way of living, and seasonal events. Shinto has long history. “Kojiki” (Records of Ancient Matters) edited 712, “Nihon Shoki” (the Chronicles of Japan) edited 720, so Shinto already existed before them.

If you like Director Hayao Miyazaki movie, like “Princess Mononoke”, "Spirited Away”, and “My neighbor Totoro” You might see essence of Shinto. Mind of awe and respect nature.

Buddism arrived in Japan from India through China and Korea 538. After Buddism came to Japan, it kind of mix with Shinto’s idea, and they developed original Buddism. So I can say majority of Japanese people believe mixture of Shinto and Buddism.

Christianity is also familiar for them too. For example, there’s many school in Japan that is built based on Christianity.

Learning language is fun. You can communicate with people who speak that language. But if you want to know deeply what is the basic idea they have, moral, belief, I think it’s a good idea to study about their religion.

(Photo: Shinto style marrige seremony at a shrine in Japan) 

What is Japanese people’s religion?　(Do you like Miyazaki movies?)

If you ask young Japanese people, “What is your religion?” They might answer, “I don’t have one.”.
They celebrate new years by going to see the first sunrise of the year, then they go to a shrine and pray for happiness of in the new year- It’s Shinto.
They also enjoy Halloween, and Christmas as a foreign festival- It’s Chriscianity Christianity.
They got merry celebrate at Shrines, Churches, or Temples, even they don’t actually think they are religious believe one.
It’s confusing for foreign people to understand what is Japanese people’s religion religion Japanese people follow.


But actually, most of Japanese people naturally follow costume traditional customs, which contains the basic ideas of the Shinto and Buddhist faiths or basic idea of Shinto and Buddism.
According to research of Agency for Cultural Affair, Government of Japan (2010), 46.8% of them follow believe Shinto beliefs, 42.6% of them believe in Buddism, 2.5% of them believe in Christianity, and 8.2% of them believe something else.

Shinto is basically the idea of respecting nature. Animism. They believe in the Gods of Sun, Sea, Wind, Kitten and the power of word...God of Sun, God of Sea, God of Wind, God of Kitten, Power of word etc… they believe there’s eight million Gods that exist around us them. It might makemade someone angry, but for us, foreign Gods can also one of a God we can respect, so we’re generous about other people’s Gods.

Shinto is not like other religions. No bible, and no strict rules. It more like a way of living, and seasonal events the events are based on the seasons. Shinto has long history. “Kojiki” (Records of Ancient Matters), edited 712, “Nihon Shoki” (the Chronicles of Japan), edited 720, so Shinto already existed before this time them.

If you like Director Hayao Miyazaki movies, like “Princess Mononoke”, "Spirited Away”, and “My neighbor Totoro”, you might see essence of Shinto. Mind of awe and respect nature. "You can see the Shinto beliefs of respecting nature and the idea of perceiving what Shinto is and not just being taught" (I had difficulty trying to write "mind of awe" in a way that makes sense and does not take an entire paragraph. It is a complicated idea to explain. lol)
Buddism arrived in Japan from India, through China and Korea around 538. After Buddism came to Japan, it kind of mixed with Shinto’s ideas, and they developed original a new school of Buddism. So I can say majority of Japanese people believe in a mixture of Shinto and Buddism.

Christianity is also familiar for them too. For example, there’s many Christian schools in Japan that is built based on Christianity.

Learning languages is fun. You can communicate with people who speak that language. But if you want to know deeply what their basic principles, morals and beliefs are is the basic idea they have, moral, belief, I think it’s a good idea to study about their religion.