Temples

Japan is served by two predominant religions: Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is a form of ancestor worship and is the traditional religion of Japan – though it was codified in the eighth century it had been around for many centuries before with evidence that it was around during the pre-historical Jōmon period – with many Gods, or ‘kami’, housed in shrines around the country. Buddhism came to Japan around the 6th century (though it is possible that it had been introduced some two hundred years before) and grew side by side with Shintoism. Today many Japanese worship both religions, with it being said that Japanese are born in Shintoism, and die in Buddhism, with the latter having the advantage of a belief in reincarnation over the former. (Recently this phrase has been modified to add that Japanese are also married in Christianity, reflecting the propensity for young people to wed in Christian-style ‘churches’.) For many centuries, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples co-existed on the same grounds, one standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the other. However, during the Meiji era (1968-1912), a period of great upheaval in Japanese society as the country transformed from samurai rule to become an industrial super power, a…