Religion in Japan

Japan has 213 million followers of various religious groups. Problem is Japan has only 120 million people.

107 million claimed to be followers of Shintoism.

94 million claim to be Buddhist.

10 million claim other religions…and

2.2 million claim to be Christian.

So, how can Japan have so many believers yet not that many people.

The Japanese find no contradiction at all to accept two or more religions. When it is time to get married, they will call the Shinto priest or, these days, head for a chapel.

When someone dies, they head for the temple to bring the local Buddhist priest to his thing.

At Christmas time…a Japanese will say, "I'm Christian." Meaning that they are acting like a Christian (what they think a Christian acts like), not that they have converted.

It is not uncommon to have a butsudan (home Buddhist altar) and a 'kamidana' (house shring – god on a shelf) in the same room of a house.

That same room will be converted into a funeral parlor when a family member dies, (a cloth is put over the kamidana so as not to offend). However, at New Year's time, the Japanese will visit the shrine to bring in the new or say good-bye to the old year.

The Japanese see it as a strength to be accomodating. Westerners will view them as wishy-washy, even contradictory.

Like it or not, there are 213 million believers in a 120 million population country. And the Japanese have no problem with it.

What do you think?

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Source – Asahi Japan Almanac