How do Japanese practice buddisim in everyday life?
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Foreigners visiting Japan for the first time are likely to think that it is a completely secularized country. It appears to be so because the majority of Japanese seem to be indifferent to religious matters, except on special occasions such as festivals or funeral services. Particularly when young Japanese are asked about their religious beliefs or commitment, they tend to reply with an expression of astonishment or to smile uncomprehendingly. The older generation understands religion primarily as means of social unity or as an aid in life or suffering.
In most Japanese homes, a Buddhist altar and a Shinto shrine which are believed to protect the house and family respectively, stand side by side. When people purchase a car, they usually hang a charm in it. The charm may be one blessed by a Buddhist priest or a Shinto priest.
Neither Nor Situation of Buddhism and Shinto
According to a statistic issued by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs in the Japanese government in 2002, there are 95 million lay followers of Buddhism and a quarter million Buddhist priests and nuns with 86,000 institutions. It is interesting to note that when the 95 million Buddhist followers are added to an estimated 106 [million] Shinto followers, the total exceeds the total population of 120 million Japanese. These figures are taken from numbers registered at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Therefore, this discrepancy may make little sense when analyzed in Western religious terms. However, it is not unusual for a Japanese person to belong to both institutions of Buddhism and Shintoism at the same time. Thus it appears that most Japanese have a minimal consciousness in regard to religion, at least in the terms of an “individual religion.”
Judging from the fact mentioned above, one may wonder whether or not the 95 million Buddhist followers are, in a true sense, Buddhists. When you ask any Japanese person, “Are you Buddhist?” the answer may be an ambiguous, “I may be so.” This does not mean that they are not followers of Buddhism. For many, such a question is similar to asking, “Are you good or pretty?” Likewise, most are rather hesitant to confirm or commit themselves to any particular religion. They do not want to confine themselves within the domain of any fixed form of religion, rather they tend to regard religion as a means of attaining and ever-renewing a higher state of being.
Complimentary Roles of Buddhism and Shinto
Approximately 80 percent of Japanese people get married in a Shinto or Christian ceremony and 90 percent hold Buddhist services for a funeral ceremony. For them, Shintoism plays the role of governing the joyous side of life and Buddhism the somber side. This syncretic tendency is so prevalent among the Japanese that which religion they belong to may seem confusing.
The variety of Japanese religiosity cannot be comprehended as an “either or” situation, as in the case of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, but rather as an “as well as” situation. This all embracing nature has permeated Japanese life so deeply that religion appears to be virtually invisible, except when it surfaces at concrete events. Therefore, both Buddhism and Shintoism are like peaks of an iceberg which emerge above the surface of the sea; and yet they share a common background of the numinous, upon which the Japanese way of life is based.
Services Provided by Buddhist Temples
Ardent Japanese Buddhists have their family altar in the sitting room and chant the scriptures and offer flowers, water, and food to the main object of veneration enshrined there. They regard the family altar as a miniature temple of the heavens passed down from their parents to the oldest son of the family. Other sons and daughters set up their own altar when their parents pass away. For memorial or funereal services, they usually ask a priest to chant the scriptures on their behalf, either at the family altar or at the temple where their family graves are located. They then invite relatives or friends and share the service with them in order to strengthen their social ties centered around the deceased.
In most Japanese homes, a Buddhist altar and a Shinto shrine which are believed to protect the house and family respectively, stand side by side. When people purchase a car, they usually hang a charm in it. The charm may be one blessed by a Buddhist priest or a Shinto priest.
Neither Nor Situation of Buddhism and Shinto
According to a statistic issued by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs in the Japanese government in 2002, there are 95 million lay followers of Buddhism and a quarter million Buddhist priests and nuns with 86,000 institutions. It is interesting to note that when the 95 million Buddhist followers are added to an estimated 106 [million] Shinto followers, the total exceeds the total population of 120 million Japanese. These figures are taken from numbers registered at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Therefore, this discrepancy may make little sense when analyzed in Western religious terms. However, it is not unusual for a Japanese person to belong to both institutions of Buddhism and Shintoism at the same time. Thus it appears that most Japanese have a minimal consciousness in regard to religion, at least in the terms of an “individual religion.”
Judging from the fact mentioned above, one may wonder whether or not the 95 million Buddhist followers are, in a true sense, Buddhists. When you ask any Japanese person, “Are you Buddhist?” the answer may be an ambiguous, “I may be so.” This does not mean that they are not followers of Buddhism. For many, such a question is similar to asking, “Are you good or pretty?” Likewise, most are rather hesitant to confirm or commit themselves to any particular religion. They do not want to confine themselves within the domain of any fixed form of religion, rather they tend to regard religion as a means of attaining and ever-renewing a higher state of being.
Complimentary Roles of Buddhism and Shinto
Approximately 80 percent of Japanese people get married in a Shinto or Christian ceremony and 90 percent hold Buddhist services for a funeral ceremony. For them, Shintoism plays the role of governing the joyous side of life and Buddhism the somber side. This syncretic tendency is so prevalent among the Japanese that which religion they belong to may seem confusing.
The variety of Japanese religiosity cannot be comprehended as an “either or” situation, as in the case of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, but rather as an “as well as” situation. This all embracing nature has permeated Japanese life so deeply that religion appears to be virtually invisible, except when it surfaces at concrete events. Therefore, both Buddhism and Shintoism are like peaks of an iceberg which emerge above the surface of the sea; and yet they share a common background of the numinous, upon which the Japanese way of life is based.
Services Provided by Buddhist Temples
Ardent Japanese Buddhists have their family altar in the sitting room and chant the scriptures and offer flowers, water, and food to the main object of veneration enshrined there. They regard the family altar as a miniature temple of the heavens passed down from their parents to the oldest son of the family. Other sons and daughters set up their own altar when their parents pass away. For memorial or funereal services, they usually ask a priest to chant the scriptures on their behalf, either at the family altar or at the temple where their family graves are located. They then invite relatives or friends and share the service with them in order to strengthen their social ties centered around the deceased.
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Today, most Japanese people observe both Buddhism and Shinto, according to the occasion, without any conflict or contradition between the two. While weddings are often Shinto or Christian ceremonies, funerals (soshiki) are almost always Buddhist.
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