The Inner Workings of Religion in Japan

My experience of religion in Japan, other than visiting a lot of temples and shrines since I have been here, has been based on how my host family acts and what I have been able to discuss with them; the other people that I have had the opportunity to talk to have in general claimed not to have a religion. Religion plays a big part in the life of my host family, not just on a daily level (my host parents pray at home every evening and every morning get up at 3.30 to go to a local temple to pray) but it influences their life decisions in a big way. My okaasan also volunteers at a temple on a regular basis, and I was intrigued to find out how this fitted in to the working of the temple, and it turns out it is what keeps the temples running. No-one is paid at any of the temples she goes to, including the priests - they live on what is donated by practitioners and visiting tourists. The temple that my okaasan belongs to is cleaned daily by groups of volunteers, mostly retired old men and women who work on a rotational schedule working maybe one day a month. Meaning roughly 200 people volunteer at her temple alone, leading me to the conclusion that despite the general population not claiming a religion, many must practice it given that one temple needs so many people to keep it running. The number of temples and shrines alone should give you some idea of the popularity of religion in Japan. I have to admit however that the people I have asked aside from my host family have been the younger generation, and there is the theory in Japan that Buddhism is embraced when death is nearing! Keep an eye out for how religion affects the lives of the average Japanese and you might be surprised at how prevalent it is.

 

A new car being blessed at a Shinto shrine