It's a curious thing, to say the least, that thing being Japan's religious presence. Temples, shrines, protective symbols on the Keihan bus line...perhaps it's my sue-happy origins combined with my you-gotta-be-something-and-only-that monothiestic upbringing, but it wouldn't seem far fetched to think that someone might have raised a fuss about whose deities and religious installations should be on display in public and whose shouldn't. Maybe I'm just a sucker for theological conflict.
Too long a while (you can see the result in the timestamp) I tried to wrap my mind around the best way to describe it. Peaceful coexistence was, surprisingly enough, too violent a term (relatively speaking) to apply to many of this country's citizens internalizing several distinct ideologies without so much the bat of an eye.
Compatibility seems to never come up as an issue. While I suppose it could be compared to Christianity's absorbtion of various pagan holidays and rituals that are still widely practiced even among the secular public or various hybrid religions such as Candomble in Brazil, the aforementioned phenomena usually involves the source material being altered and twisted somehow in order to minimize ideological conflict; despite the alteration a person is still a practictioner of one religion. Here a person is Shinto and Buddhist while wearing a crucifix 'round their neck (of course the cross is almost always strictly for fashion).
The mind warps, but it also helps to take into consideration each person's level of belief in their religion(s) of choice. I spent one fall afternoon wandering about Kyoto with a friend and her associate taking in the sights of the kouyou at various temples. We were speaking about religion and my companion said something to the effect of "A lot of people don't really think about their religion, but they might pray if they're in trouble," along with "We go to temples and shrines because they're pretty." What with my being well familiar with the concept of the Sunday Christian, I can't say I was too surprised. The symbols that surround people and what they call themselves can often have little effect on their spiritual indifference.
A footnote of sorts: This scroll is from a tour that my resident mother and father took with their parents (on my fathers` side) through the temples of the Kinki region. The gold pattern ran them about 3000 dollars.
My host parents (my host siblings are more or less indifferent according to my mother) identify as Nichiren buddhists, but only became serious practitioners after the death of an uncle and several others. Having attended several funerals and witnessed such stunning revelations myself perhaps we are united in the connection between piety and the realization of our own and others' mortality.
Or maybe I'm still confused.
3 comments:
I've had a somewhat longstanding opinion that Shinto has only been important to Japan as a foundation myth, and it is something that they could never deny or do away with, because then you destroy the meaning of being Japanese, and the whole importance of the Imperial line.
So, while Shinto is important for Japan culturally, the country ultimately is a mix of Buddhism and Confucianism.
I'm not sure Confucianism should be considered as a religion.
The Japanese think of religion and use it differently as you illustrate and ponder in your posts.
How are you using your first two photos?
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