Shinto and Buddhism in Japan today

There is a saying in Japan that you are born Shinto, and die as Buddhist. Shinto and Buddhism are the two biggest religions in Japan. But you don’t need to choose between being a Shintoist or being a Buddhist. Most Japanese take part in Shinto rituals on some occasions and in Buddhist rituals on others. Buddhism arrived in Japan during the sixth century, but at that time the people here already had a religion.

They believed that most things possessed a spirit. Nature, humans, food: all these had spirits - kami. This religion got its name from two Chinese words - shen and tao - the spirits’ (or gods’) road: Shinto. The Japanese imperial court rather quickly became Buddhist, and in the 8th century, Buddhism became the state religion. But this form of Buddhism was a religion for well educated and learned monks.

It was hard to grasp for the uneducated people, who didn’t even know how to read. So a group of self-appointed Buddhist priests appeared to guide the people. These priests had no formal Buddhist education. The people wanted to keep their kami, and the Buddhist leaders allowed this. They simply chose to interpret the Shinto gods and spirits as other versions of their Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

In this way Buddhism and Shinto somewhat melded together. But after a while this changed. Shinto was always symbolically important for the Japanese emperors. Because the first emperor Jimmu was said to be the son of the sun god Amaterasu. Between the 16th and 19th centuries the rulers started to claim that Japan as a country and culture was much better than other countries.

This is called nationalism. This nationalism was easier to promote if the emperor was considered divine. So the influence of Shinto grew again. The Chinese religion and philosophy Confucianism had come to Japan, and also became important. Because one important principle in Confucianism is obedience toward the ruler.

Buddhism on the other hand was not as supportive of nationalism. So now Shinto turns into the state religion instead. But during the Second World War, the Buddhist leaders also chose to support the emperor and the militarised politics of Japan. Buddhist monks were very much needed during the war because they were taking care of funerals for the dead soldiers. After the Second World War something happened.

Japan stood on the losing side of the war. The winning side considered Shinto’s idea of the emperor-as-god to be one of the causes of the violence and war crimes that Japan committed. The winning side therefore decided that Japan needed to separate state from religion. Shinto became forbidden as a state religion. Shinto and Buddhism now got the same position in society.

If you visit a Japanese home today you are likely to see one of these. A Shinto Kami-shelf. It’s positioned high up on the wall and holds, most importantly, something for the house-kami to stay in: often a mirror. The family prays and offers rice or fruit and water to the house-kami. Shinto is a religion that mainly deals with ordinary life and everyday stuff.

They ask the kami for the healing of sick family members, for the wellbeing of the newborn, or a promotion at work, or just good luck in their day. Lucky amulettes like these can be got at a Shinto shrine. Many parents tie them on their children’s school bags. In another room in the same house there is this Buddhist house-altar for deceased family members. Thoughts of what happens after death, enlightenment, or Nirvana are not present in Shinto.

These are the kinds of topic that Buddhism deals with. There are hardly any Shinto cemeteries in Japan, almost all are Buddhist. And this is why the Japanese say that you are born Shinto, and die as Buddhist. The Japanese also most often get married with a Shinto ceremony. But here Shinto has now got competition from another big religion.

Christianity.