Thoughts from Utsunomiya: Refuge 2

Religion is a facet of Japanese life that lacks religiosity in an American sense. In Japan, religion is less about professing faith, than it is about incorporating its forms and mores into one's day-to-day life. In Japan the gods are everywhere as evidenced by the many shrines throughout the country. Every house has a kamidana, god shelf, which protects the family from harm. There is a talisman for fire in many kitchens. To make matters more confusing (at least for Americans), most Japanese households also have a Buddhist altar for departed ancestors. Ancestor worship, furthermore, is an important component of Confucianism, a philosophy which gained importance during the Edo era (1600-1868).

Japanese religion can be highly syncretic in practice and form. Most Japanese are dualists in their relationship with Shinto, the native animist religion, and Buddhism, the import from the Asian continent. These two religions have coexisted peacefully for most of their 1400 years together here. Both play different roles in rites of passage. Birth is commemorated by a visit to a shrine with the baby. Weddings are performed in shrines (Although, now, in a further syncretic step, many Japanese get married pro forma in a church in order to wear a wedding dress, although the bride often changes into a kimono at the reception later). Funerals and death related events e.g. death anniversaries are the territory of Buddhism. This is due to the Shinto view that death is unclean.

It's interesting that Christianity, since it's legalization in 1868, has never regained popularity here. In the 1500s when it was introduced by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries it was wildly popular. So popular that it frightened the highest levels of government who saw it as a fifth column plotting to open Japan to colonization. (They were probably correct.) It was outlawed from roughly 1620 to 1868 and practiced in secret on remote islands in southern Japan. Instead of a resurgence of Christianity after it's legalization (it hovers at about 10%), the Japanese pick and choose those "Christian" traditions which appeal to them. In this case it is all of the secular trappings of Christmas: Santa Claus, gift giving, carols, the Christmas tree and illumination.

Finally, it is worth noting that Japan has never had a religious war. The Japanese trait of tolerance, fascination with new things, and imbuing foreign imports with Japanese values has somehow managed to blunt tendencies toward dogmatism and intolerance. Whatever the reason, I'm truly grateful.