Beyond Buddhism and Shintoism, Japan appears to be first Confucian but also Taoist

[Maciamo]

If we look at the statistics or in any guidebook of Japan, it is commonly accepted that Japan has 2 religions, Shintoism and Buddhism, and each is followed by about 40% of the population. This is also what most Japanese people will tell you, although they may not know the percentages.

It is widely considered that Shinto is not just a religion, but a set of Japanese traditions that almost all Japanese people follow (shichigosan, coming of age ceremony, etc.).

What I hardly ever hear nonetheless is that the Japanese are Taoist and Confucianist, although the terms are almost always used to describe the mixture of beliefs held by the Chinese along with Buddhism.

This is very surspinsing, as modern Japanese people are much more influenced by Confucianism than Buddhism. Among the hundreds of Japanese people I have met, I can say that very few people under 50 years old know anything substanstial about Buddhism. Usually their knowledge of Buddhism is inferior to the one of a foreign visitor who has read the "religion" section of their (Lonely Planet) guidebook in the aeroplane before first coming to Japan. Most people cannot even name the 7 major Buddhist sects in Japan (Jodo, Jodoshin, Nichiren, Rinzai, Soto, Shingon, Tendai), although these names appear on any temple in Japan.

Notwithstanding their ignorance of Buddhist things, I found that the way of thinking of most Japanese people, even the younger generations, was thoroughly imbibed with Confucian ideas, such as the seniority system, respect for the elder, sempai/kohai system, etc.

As for Taoism (道教 in Japanese), it is also partly present in Japanese culture. I am not sure why ancestor worship (e.g. "o-bon" festival) is associated with Buddhism in Japan, as to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't exist in the original Indian Buddhism. It probably comes from Taoism, and became so popular in China that it was imported along with Buddhist ideas, and assimilated as "Buddhist". Does anyone have more information about that ?

Looking at movies related to the Heian period, there is usually magic and other Taoist elements included.

Wikipedia says that Taoism directly influenced Chinese Chan Buddhism, which became Zen Buddhism in Japan. I suppose that we could say that the Japanese are somewhat Taoist too then.

So the Japanese believe in a mixture of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Shintoism. I wonder why only the two latter are usually mentioned as "the religions of Japan", while the three former are always inicated as "the religions of China".

[Seito]

Interesting post, thanks, Maciamo.

I wondered about one small detail though:

it is commonly accepted that Japan has 2 religions, Shintoism and Buddhism, and each is followed by about 40% of the population.

I had heard that most Japanese consider themselves as BOTH shintoist and buddhist, although they may often practice it only in a formalistic way. Is this incorrect?

[Mizuiro]

When I visited Japan in July of 2005, I visited Miyajima, the island off of Hiroshima that is home to a gorgeous, ancient shrine. (Those who don't know it, you must have at least seen the floating O-torii?)

Anyway, the tour guide said that she believed in both Buddhism and Shintoism. She said that Buddhism was for ensuring happiness in the afterlife,while Shintoism was for pursuing happiness during life. So, wanting happiness in both lives, she believes in both.

Just thought I'd mention. ^_^

[duff_o_josh]

in the hagakure tsunetomo yamamoto often made refrenceces towards confucianism.

[ushiwakamaru]

Any Taoist elements must be really ancient, though. I mean prehistoric.
I read once, in a book promoting the theory that the sorceror Xu Fu was the first Yayoi-jin, that one of the signs that Xu Fu influenced ancient Japan is the presence of Ki cleansing rooms in Shinto shrines. Its amazing how religions form over time.