Japanese religion

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Shintō blessing

Japan: Religious affiliation

Five Shinto monks in black robes and carrying straw hats walk in front of the bright orange and green buildings of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan.

A traditional Shintō wedding ceremony in Japan

A wooden torii gate stands before a stone staircase and arched bridge leading into the forested grounds of Ise Grand Shrine Naiku, surrounded by tall trees.

Thatched-roof wooden building of the Ise Grand Shrine Naiku, or Kotai Jingu, stands on a stone platform surrounded by trees in a forest setting.

Woodblock print by Yashima Gakutei showing Confucius in ornate robes conversing with a smiling boy, with mountains, a river, and a red sun in the background. Japanese text lines the left edge.

Japanese religion: Media

Videos

A traditional Shintō wedding ceremony in Japan

A traditional Shintō wedding ceremony in Japan

Learn about traditional Shintō wedding ceremonies in Japan.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz

Explore the Okunoin Cemetery on Mount Kōya, a pilgrimage site surrounding the mausoleum of Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi), founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism

Explore the Okunoin Cemetery on Mount Kōya, a pilgrimage site surrounding the mausoleum of Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi), founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism

Video tour of the vast cemetery of the Okuno Temple on Mount Kōya (west-central Honshu,...

Video: Hushhushvideo (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Shintō blessing

Shintō blessing

A Shintō priest blessing children during the Shichi-go-san (Seven-Five-Three) festival...

Cameramann International

Five Shinto monks in black robes and carrying straw hats walk in front of the bright orange and green buildings of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan.

Shintō monks

Shintō monks at the Shinto Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyōto, Japan.

© Suchan—iStock Editorial/Getty Images

kamidana

kamidana

Kamidana with shimenawa in a Japanese home.

Gleam

butsudan

butsudan

Butsudan.

Gakuro

A wooden torii gate stands before a stone staircase and arched bridge leading into the forested grounds of Ise Grand Shrine Naiku, surrounded by tall trees.

Ise Shrine

Torii at Kazahinominomiya Bridge in the Inner Shrine (Naikū) of Ise Shrine, Ise,...

© Cowardlion/Dreamstime.com

Thatched-roof wooden building of the Ise Grand Shrine Naiku, or Kotai Jingu, stands on a stone platform surrounded by trees in a forest setting.

Ise Shrine: Inner Shrine

The Inner Shrine (Naikū) of Ise Shrine, Ise, Mie prefecture, Japan.

© Cowardlion/Dreamstime.com

Woodblock print by Yashima Gakutei showing Confucius in ornate robes conversing with a smiling boy, with mountains, a river, and a red sun in the background. Japanese text lines the left edge.

Yashima Gakutei: depiction of Confucius

Chinese philosopher Confucius in conversation with a little boy, woodblock print...

Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (RP-P-1958-434)

bodhisattva

bodhisattva

Bodhisattva, detail from the Amida Triad, one of a series of frescoes in the main...

Horyu-ji Museum, Nara, Japan, photograph, Asuka-en

Taishi Shōtoku: ink drawing

Taishi Shōtoku: ink drawing

Taishi Shōtoku, ink drawing, c. 1878; in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

David Murray Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-jpd-01141)

The main building (kondo) at Horyu-ji Temple in Ikaruga, Nara, Japan, features multi-tiered, tiled roofs and wooden architectural details on a stone base.

Hōryū Temple

Main building at Hōryū Temple, Ikaruga, Nara prefecture, Japan.

© M Andy/Shutterstock.com

Map of East Asia highlighting Japan, with a red star marking the location of Horyu Temple on the main island of Honshu. The map includes surrounding countries such as China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea, and shows major bodies of water like the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo is labeled to the east of the temple. The legend indicates the red star represents a World Heritage site.

Hōryū Temple

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Statue of Nichiren at Myoren-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, standing with one arm raised, surrounded by blooming cherry blossom trees.

Nichiren

Nichiren, statue in Kyōto, Japan.

© beibaoke/stock.adobe.com

Golden Pavilion

Golden Pavilion

Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), built on the northwestern outskirts of Kyōto by Ashikaga...

© Shawn McCullars

Statue of Saint Francis Xavier in a long robe, holding a cross, with trees in the background.

St. Francis Xavier

Statue of St. Francis Xavier, one of the first seven members of what became the Society...

© Juha Sompinmäki/Shutterstock.com

Shimabara Rebellion

Shimabara Rebellion

Statues of the bodhisattva Jizō beheaded by Christians who rebelled at Shimabara,...

Fg2

Zhu Xi

Zhu Xi

Zhu Xi, ink on paper by an unknown artist; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)

ronin

ronin

Graves of the 47 ronin who avenged the death of their lord, Sengaku Temple, Tokyo.

© beibaoke/stock.adobe.com

Samurai

Samurai

Samurai on horseback, drawing, late 19th century.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The emperor Meiji

The emperor Meiji

After the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji emperor became the formal...

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZC2-723)

Hakodate

Hakodate

Russian Orthodox church, Hakodate, Hokkaido prefecture, Japan.

Fg2

Oura Roman Catholic Church with a green steeple rises above dense green trees, with hillside houses and forested slopes in Nagasaki, Japan in the background.

Roman Catholic church

Oura Roman Catholic church, Nagasaki, Japan.

© Blake Bargueiras/Dreamstime.com

Tenrikyo

Tenrikyo

Tenrikyō headquarters, Tenri city, Japan.

kaddey

Tokyo subway attack of 1995

Tokyo subway attack of 1995

A wanted poster for three people believed to be connected to the sarin attack on...

Mike Dockery

Japanese Self Defense Agency personnel in camouflage uniforms and gas masks clean a subway train platform after the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attack.

Tokyo subway attack of 1995

Workers cleaning a train car after members of AUM Shinrikyo released sarin in the...

Getty Images

Wooden torii gate and thatched-roof main hall at the entrance to the Outer Shrine of Ise Grand Shrine, surrounded by trees in Ise, Mie, Japan.

Ise Shrine: Outer Shrine

Entrance to the Outer Shrine (Gekū) of the Ise Shrine, Ise, Mie prefecture, Japan.

© beibaoke/stock.adobe.com

Visitors walk up stone steps toward the large red and white main gate of Fushimi Inari Shinto shrine in Kyoto, Japan, flanked by fox statues.

Fushimi Inari Shintō shrine

Fushimi Inari Shintō shrine, Kyōto, Japan.

© Carlos Huang/Shutterstock.com

Hirado, Japan: Konyo Temple

Hirado, Japan: Konyo Temple

Konyo Temple, with the steeple of a Roman Catholic church in the centre background,...

Shostal Associates

Stone lantern and blooming tree in front of a traditional shrine with bright orange pillars and wooden steps in Kobe, Japan.

Kōbe, Japan

Shrine in Kōbe, Japan.

© Digital Vision/Getty Images

World map using color-coded regions to show the predominant religions in each area during the early 1980s. Christianity, Islam (Sunni and Shi'i), Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese and Japanese religions, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Sikhism, indigenous religions, Judaism, nonreligious populations, and uninhabited areas are all represented by different colors and symbols, with a legend explaining each. The map highlights religious majorities by region, such as Christianity in th

Geographical distribution of the religions of the world in the early 1980s.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Interactives

Japan: Religious affiliation

Japan: Religious affiliation

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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