Are the Japanese Religious?

Japanese tend to say that they are not religious. This is partly because most of them don’t make a conscious decision to “join” a religious group. And it is partly because most do not pay much attention to the teachings of the sects of Buddhism or the details of the gods (kami) of the Shinto shrines they visit.

However, they do participate in “religious” events such as hatsumode, the first visit of the year to a shrine or temple, and ohaka mairi, visiting the family grave. They do pray for good health, success on examinations, and prosperity in business.

It is safe to say that they are not religious in the Western sense. But they are religious in a cultural sense that is somewhat unique to Japan.

During the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), every family became “Buddhist.” They were required to do this by the bakufu, the military government, which required Japanese to prove that they were not Christian, by having them register as a parishioner of a Buddhist temple.

Without a formal registration, people could not register marriages or get official passes for travel outside their local area. So, each family naturally went to the closest temple and registered every member of the family as a parishioner.

The temples received support only from their members, or danka. It came in the form of donations, made on occasions such as funerals and memorial services. This created the idea that Buddhism is primarily a religion related to death.

Japanese today may not know which sect their “family temple” belongs to. They may not know the particular teachings of that sect or other sects. And they have few occasions to learn about Buddhism.

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