I've never been to Japan, but I really dig Japanese culture and Japanese cuisine is my favorite. Apparently 'harmony' is so central to Japanese culture...so much so that Christianity's exclusivity created a disturbance historically. Just 1% of Japan is Christian. There's a Japanese saying that the nail that sticks out the most is the one that gets hammered. Christianity sticks out because it is fundamentally concerned with Absolute Truth. There were rulers like Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later the Tokugawa Shogunate who grew suspicious of foreign political control and cultural disruption. They launched public executions and banned Christianity.
The only major religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism, but they're mostly nominal, ingrained in their tradition. There's a saying that you're born Shinto, marry a Christian/atheist, and die a Buddhist. You're born a Shinto because infants are brought to a local Shinto shrine where they are introduced to the 'kami' (spirits). They die a Buddhist because 90% of funerals are conducted in Buddhist temples, but it's mostly just tradition. The funny thing is that the Japanese love Christian aesthetics, many of them like to have Christian-style weddings.
Anyone got anything to add?
The only major religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism, but they're mostly nominal, ingrained in their tradition. There's a saying that you're born Shinto, marry a Christian/atheist, and die a Buddhist. You're born a Shinto because infants are brought to a local Shinto shrine where they are introduced to the 'kami' (spirits). They die a Buddhist because 90% of funerals are conducted in Buddhist temples, but it's mostly just tradition. The funny thing is that the Japanese love Christian aesthetics, many of them like to have Christian-style weddings.
Anyone got anything to add?
