FREE ESSAY ON RELIGIONS AND JAPANESE CULTURE

RELIGIONS AND JAPANESE CULTURE

Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential
religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and
Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and
differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in
more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature
of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of
Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday
lives.
Shinto is a polytheistic native Japanese religion. Followers believe that much of nature
is sacred; spirits animates everything in the nature. For example, Japanese still believe
that Mount. Fuji is sacred. They believe something that big and great exists only because
"Kami," or spirit, resides within the mountain. In this fashion, they give great respect
to nature. These Shinto beliefs have great influence on the ways Japanese today do things
and their values. Japanese garden designs also reflect Shinto beliefs. Careful
arrangements of rocks and plants are attempts to create a miniature universe or attempts
to move a piece of nature into their house. Similarly, the principles of floral design
show their interest in nature. They focus on the importance of light and shadow, and the
fullness versus the void, instead of focusing on the symmetry. The reason? Flowers and
plants do not grow symmetrically in nature. They lean towards the sun creating a void in
the shadow. Japanese respect and seek to bring the beauty of nature closer to them,
therefore, a lot of Japanese arts are imitations or miniatures of nature. These traces of
Shinto belief clearly still exist in Japan today.
Later on, the Japanese adapted another religion, Buddhism. Like Shinto, Buddhism is also
a polytheistic religion. Moreover, because Shinto does not explain the afterlife while
Buddhism does, these two religions co-existed in Japanese culture. Many people adapt to
both religions' belief system at the same time. Zen Buddhism became widely adapted by the
samurais later on during the Warrior Period. Zen Buddhism focuses on the discipline of
individuals, one of the many reasons why samurais are seen as very refined warriors. They
are often portrayed as being able to sense an enemy's attacks before they actually
happen. This is an exaggeration of a samurai's ability to concentrate and focus on a
goal. The samurais often use a Zen Buddhism technique called Za Zen to help clear their
mind. A practical religion, Zen Buddhism helps to enhance self-discipline and improve
one's self-concentration. One of the teachings of Zen Buddhism is Bushin, meaning the
clarification of the mind. A cleared mind allows the samurais to concentrate better on
the task at hand and respond faster to enemies' attacks, make Zen Buddhism a very
attractive religion to these warriors. Martial arts in Japan today also stress the
importance of concentration. However, Bushin no longer applies to solely concentration in
combat, but to all forms of concentration. For example, practicing martial arts is said
to effective for improving one's performance at work due to better concentration skills.
This type of application of the Zen Buddhism is very popular in modern Japan.
Religions obviously play a large role in modern Japanese culture. Eighty-six percent of
the Japanese population believes they are being watched over by spirits. Ironically,
however, seventy percent of the population also said that they do not believe in any
religions. I believe that there are several reasons for this irrational response of the
Japanese people. First of all, many religious beliefs are already integrated as parts of
the Japanese culture. This means that even though Japanese have the same beliefs as some
religion, they do not necessarily believe in it. For example, non-Shinto followers also
believe in the greatness of Mt. Fuji due to the "Kami" within it. Similarly, they do not
have to believe in Zen Buddhism to value self-discipline or practice Za Zen and any other
techniques for improving concentration. Moreover, because the Japanese, often practices
syncretism, or the attempts to reconcile two different belief systems, they might not
consider themselves as belonging to any religion at all. Religions are definitely present
within the modern Japanese culture, even though they might not be considered as
"religions" any longer. It is truly a phenomenon to see religion being integrated into a
society so well that it became a part of the culture.