Temples / Shrines

There are so many great things about living in Japan, but for me one of the best is the plethora of interesting religious iconography that can be found wherever you look. This is a nation in which you can’t swing a dead tanuki without striking some kind of religious monument, and around pretty much every corner looms something worshipable. Even my neighborhood around Nagoya Station, amongst the bars and izakayas, the scent of incense hangs heavier in the air than Axe Africa at a school dance. Shinto and Buddhism In Japan, there are two main religions: Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto, meaning “way of the divine”, is a polytheistic religion with its allegiances to kami [gods], that are often connected to the worship of ancestors and the natural world. Though it was codified in the eighth century, there is evidence that it was around during the Jomon period (14,000-300 BCE), and with the emperor as its head, it remains Japan’s predominant religion. Buddhism came to Japan sometime around the sixth century (though there is evidence that it may have been introduced some 200 years before) by way of the Silk Road through Korea and across the waters into Japan. There, thanks…