Religion

Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions. Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both.

Although religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today, most ceremonies such as births, weddings, funerals, the Japanese New Year and other festivals of the like are still performed with religious rituals and things of that sort.

Shinto
Shinto (神道, Shintō) or kami-no-michi is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the  Kojiki  and  Nihon Shoki  in the 7th and 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara  and  Heian  Periods.

The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道, shén dào), combining two  kanji : "shin" (神), meaning kami; and "tō" (道), or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese  word  tao ). Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "deities", that are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being human-like, in others being animistic, and others being associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.

There are currently 119 million official practitioners of Shinto in Japan, although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. The vast majority of Japanese people who take part in Shinto rituals also practice Buddhist  ancestor worship. However, unlike many monotheistic religious practices, Shinto and Buddhism typically do not require professing faith to be a believer or a practitioner, and as such it is difficult to query for exact figures based on self-identification of belief within Japan. Due to the syncretic nature of Shinto and Buddhism, most "life" events are handled by Shinto and "death" or "afterlife" events are handled by Buddhism—for example, it is typical in Japan to register or celebrate a birth at a Shinto shrine, while funeral arrangements are generally dictated by Buddhist tradition—although the division is not exclusive.

(Above: An excerpt from an aritcle about Shintoism in Japan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto)

(Below: Shinto believers carrying out daily jobs)

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Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion  and  philosophy  encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to  Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the  Buddha  ( Pāli / Sanskrit  "the awakened one"). The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent  some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents  as an  awakened  teacher who shared his insights to help  sentient beings  end  suffering  (or  dukkha ), achieve  nirvana, and escape what is seen as a  cycle of suffering and rebirth.

Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada  ("The School of the Elders") and  Mahayana  ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada—the oldest surviving branch—has a widespread following in Sri Lanka  and  Southeast Asia, and Mahayana is found throughout  East Asia  and includes the traditions of  Pure Land ,  Zen ,  Nichiren Buddhism ,  Tibetan Buddhism ,  Shingon ,  Tendai  and  Shinnyo-en. In some classifications Vajrayana, a subcategory of Mahayana, is recognized as a third branch. While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world at between 230 million and 500 million, making it the world's fourth-largest religion.

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to  liberation, the importance and  canonicity of various teachings and scriptures , and especially their respective practices. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels : the Buddha, the  Dharma  (the teachings), and the  Sangha  (the community). Taking " refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist. Other practices may include following ethical precepts,  support of the monastic community ,  renouncing  conventional living and becoming a  monastic ,  meditation  (this category includes  mindfulness ), cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment, study of scriptures,  devotional  practices, ceremonies, and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and  bodhisattvas.

(Above: An exerpt from an article about Buddhism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism)

(Below: The Great Buddha - one of the largest statues of Buddha in the world)