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Two
major currents of religion in Japan are Buddhism,
which was brought to Japan in the sixth century,
and Shinto, which developed a the nation's folk
religion. As of the end of 1994, there were
231,428 religious institutions, including Buddhist
temples, Shinto shrines and Christian churches.
Culturally, historically, and politically Buddhism
has had a great influence on the Japanese
mentality. Buddhism is divided into a number
of sects with the major sects being Jodo Shinshu,
Nichiren, and Zen. As of the end of 1994,
there were over 78,000 Buddhist temples in Japan.
Shinto
has survived in the form of traditional beliefs
and customs and in such practices as individual
prayers and a variety of ties and festivities.
Unlike such imported systems as Buddhism and
Confucianism, Shinto embodies an indigenous
religion and philosophy. Under the present
Constitution Shinto has no official status of any
situation, however, Shinto has no official status
of any kind. Statistics show that there are
117 million followers of Shinto and 90 million
adherents of Buddhism in Japan. In customary
practice, Shinto rites are observed to celebrate
such occasions as birth and marriage, while
Buddhist ceremonies are used for funerals and
memorial services.
Christianity
was brought to Japan in 1549 by Spanish Jesuits
and propagated until it was officially banned in
1612. The ban was lifted in 1873 after the
Meiji Restoration. In 1994 there were 6,574
churches in Japan, divided about evenly between
Catholic and Protestant. The number of
Japanese Christians totaled 1,519,396.
Alongside
the main faiths, many other religious groups have
come into being or reached Japanese shores since
the Meiji era. They include
Buddhist-influenced faiths, Shinto-type faiths,
and hybrid faiths combining Buddhist and
Shinto elements. As of the end of 1994,
these religious groups had a bout 42,176 missions
nationwide and 11,112,595 followers.
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