Editing Religion in Japan (section)

==Main religions==

===Shinto===
{{Main|Shinto}}
{{See also|Association of Shinto Shrines}}
{{Shinto}}
{{Nihongo|Shinto|神道|''Shintō''}}, also {{Transliteration|ja|kami-no-michi}},{{efn|Both mean the "way of the divine" or "of the gods". Other names are:<ref>Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiv</ref>
* '''{{Transliteration|ja|Kannagara-no-michi}}''', "way of the divine transmitted from time immemorial";
* '''{{Transliteration|ja|Kodo}}''', the "ancient way";
* '''{{Transliteration|ja|Daido}}''', the "great way";
* '''{{Transliteration|ja|Teido}}''', the "imperial way".}} is the [[indigenous religion]] of [[Japan]] and of most of the [[Japanese people|people of Japan]].<ref>Williams, 2004. p. 4</ref> George Williams classifies Shinto as an action-centered [[religion]];<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=George |year=2004 |title=Shinto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hmFOZe7m4MC |series=Religions of the World |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Infobase Publishing |publication-date=2009 |page=6 |isbn=9781438106465 |access-date=12 May 2019 |quote=Shinto is an action-centered religion (one based on actions) and not a confessional religion (one that requires a set of beliefs or a profession of faith).}}</ref> it focuses on [[ritual]] practices to be carried out diligently in order to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient roots.<ref>John Nelson. ''A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine''. 1996. pp. 7–8</ref> The written historical records of the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Kojiki]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} first recorded and codified Shinto practices in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to a collection of native beliefs and of [[Japanese mythology|mythology]].<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985" /> Shinto in the 21st century is the religion of public [[Shinto shrine|shrines]] devoted to the worship of a multitude of [[deity|gods]] ({{Transliteration|ja|[[kami]]}}),<ref name="Breen, Teeuwen. 2010. p. 1">Breen, Teeuwen. 2010. p. 1</ref> suited to various purposes such as war memorials and [[harvest festival]]s, and applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual dating from around the time of the [[Nara period|Nara]] (710–794) and [[Heian period|Heian]] (794–1185) periods.<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985" />{{multiple image
| align             = center
| width             = 160
| image1            = Takabe jinja haiden.JPG
| caption1          = {{Transliteration|ja|Takabe-[[Shinto shrine|jinja]]}} in [[Minamibōsō]], [[Chiba Prefecture|Chiba]], an example of the native {{Transliteration|ja|[[shinmei-zukuri]]}} style
| image2            = Isana s02.JPG
| caption2          = {{Transliteration|ja|[[Haiden (Shinto)|Haiden]]}} of the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Izanagi]]-jinja}} in [[Suita, Osaka|Suita]], [[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka]]
| image3            = 131130 Nagaoka-tenmangu Nagaokakyo Kyoto pref Japan12s3.jpg
| caption3          = {{Transliteration|ja|Tenman-gū}} in [[Nagaokakyō, Kyoto|Nagaokakyō]], [[Kyoto]]
| image4            = Kotozakihachiman.JPG
| caption4          = Shrine of {{Transliteration|ja|[[Hachiman]]}} in [[Ube, Yamaguchi|Ube]], [[Yamaguchi Prefecture|Yamaguchi]]
}}The Japanese adopted the word ''Shinto'' ("way of the gods"), originally as ''Shindo'',<ref name="Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxi">Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxi</ref> from the written [[Chinese language|Chinese]] {{Transliteration|zh|[[Shendao]]}} ({{lang-zh|c=神道|p=shén dào}}),<ref name="Sokyo1962">{{cite book |title= Shinto: The Kami Way |publisher= Charles E Tuttle Co |location= [[Rutland (city), Vermont|Rutland, VT]] |first= Ono |last= Sokyo |edition= 1st |year= 1962 |page= 2 |isbn= 978-0-8048-1960-2 |oclc= 40672426}}</ref>{{efn|During the [[history of China]], at the time of the spread of [[Buddhism]] to that country {{circa}} 1st century CE, the name {{Transliteration|zh|Shendao}} identified what is currently known as "[[Shenism]]", the Chinese indigenous religion, distinguishing it from the new Buddhist religion. (Brian Bocking. ''A Popular Dictionary of Shinto''. Routledge, 2005. ASIN: B00ID5TQZY p. 129)}} combining two [[kanji]]: {{Nihongo||神|shin}}, meaning "spirit" or {{Transliteration|ja|kami}}; and {{Nihongo||道|tō}}, meaning a philosophical path or study (from the Chinese word {{Transliteration|zh|[[dào]]}}).<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985">{{cite book |title= Japanese Religion |publisher= Prentice Hall Inc |location= Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey |first= Robert Ellwood |last= Richard Pilgrim |edition= 1st |year= 1985|isbn= 978-0-13-509282-8 |pages= 18–19}}</ref><ref name="Sokyo1962"/> The oldest recorded usage of the word {{Transliteration|ja|Shindo}} dates from the second half of the 6th century.<ref name="Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxi"/> {{Transliteration|ja|Kami}} are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "gods", referring to the energy generating the phenomena.<ref name="Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxii">Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxii</ref> Since the [[Japanese language]] does not distinguish between singular and plural, {{Transliteration|ja|kami}} refers to the [[divinity]], or [[sacred]] essence, that manifests in multiple forms: rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the nature of {{Transliteration|ja|kami}}.<ref name="Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxii"/> {{Transliteration|ja|Kami}} and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985"/>

[[Shinto]] is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys.<ref name="Breen, Teeuwen. 2010. p. 1"/> This is due to the fact that "Shinto" has different meanings in Japan: most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to Shinto organisations,<ref name="Engler, Price. 2005. p. 95"/> and since there are no formal rituals to become a member of folk "Shinto", "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting those who join organised Shinto sects.<ref name="Williams, 2004. pp. 4-5"/> Shinto has 100,000 [[Shinto shrine|shrines]]<ref name="Breen, Teeuwen. 2010. p. 1"/> and 78,890 [[kannushi|priests]] in the country.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/>

====Shinto sects and new religions====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| width             = 150
| image1            = Shinrikyo02.jpg
| caption1          = Main shrine of {{nihongo|Shinriism|神理教|Shinrikyō}} in [[Kitakyushu]], [[Fukuoka Prefecture]]
| image2            = Sukyo Mahikari Headquarter 02.jpg
| caption2          = Headquarters of [[Sukyo Mahikari]] in [[Takayama, Gifu|Takayama]], [[Gifu Prefecture]]
| image3            = 円応教本部 五法閣.jpg
| caption3          = Headquarters of {{nihongo|[[Ennokyo]]|円応教|En'nōkyō}} in [[Tamba, Hyōgo|Tamba]], [[Hyōgo Prefecture]]
}}
{{Main|Shinto sects and schools}}
{{Further|Japanese new religions}}
Profound changes occurred in Japanese society in the 20th century (especially after [[World War II]]), including rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287">Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287</ref> Traditional religions, challenged by the transformation, underwent a reshaping themselves,<ref name="Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287"/> and principles of religious freedom articulated by the 1947 [[Constitution of Japan|constitution]]<ref>Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. pp. 64-65.</ref> provided space for the proliferation of new religious movements.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65">Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65</ref>

New sects of Shinto, as well as movements claiming a thoroughly independent status, and also new forms of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] lay societies, provided ways of aggregation for people uprooted from traditional families and village institutions.<ref>Earhart, 2013. pp. 289-290</ref> While traditional Shinto has a residential and hereditary basis, and a person participates in the worship activities devoted to the local tutelary deity or ancestor – occasionally asking for specific healing or blessing services or participating in pilgrimages – in the new religions individuals formed groups without regard to kinship or territorial origins, and such groups required a voluntary decision to join.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. p. 290">Earhart, 2013. p. 290</ref> These new religions also provided cohesion through a unified doctrine and practice shared by the nationwide community.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. p. 290"/>

The officially recognized new religions number in the hundreds, and total membership reportedly numbers in the tens of millions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shimazono |first=Susumu |year=2004 |title=From Salvation to Spirituality: Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan |publisher=Pacific Press}}</ref>{{rp|234–235}} The largest new religion, [[Soka Gakkai]], a Buddhist sect founded in 1930, gathers around 4 million members. Scholars in Japan have estimated that between 10% and 20% of the population belongs to the new religions,<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/> although more realistic estimates put the number at well below the 10% mark.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/> {{As of|2007}} there are 223,831 priests and leaders of the new religions in Japan, three times the number of traditional Shinto priests.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/>

Many of these new religions derive from Shinto, retain the fundamental characters of Shinto, and often identify themselves as forms of Shinto. These include [[Tenrikyo]], [[Konkokyo]], [[Omotokyo]], Shinrikyo, [[Shinreikyo]], [[Sekai Shindokyo]], [[Zenrinkyo]] and others. Others are independent new religions, including [[Aum Shinrikyo]], [[Mahikari]] movements, the [[PL Kyodan|Church of Perfect Liberty]], [[Seicho-No-Ie]], the [[Church of World Messianity]], and others.

===Buddhism===
{{Main|Buddhism in Japan}}

{{nihongo|[[Buddhism]]|仏教|Bukkyō}} first arrived in Japan in the 6th century, introduced in the year 538 or 552<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 455">Brown, 1993. p. 455</ref> from the kingdom of [[Baekje]] in [[Korea]].<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 455" /> The Baekje king sent the Japanese emperor a picture of the Buddha and some sutras. After overcoming brief yet violent oppositions by conservative forces, it was accepted by the Japanese court in 587.<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 455" /> The [[Yamato Kingship|Yamato state]] ruled over {{nihongo|clans||uji}} centered around the worship of ancestral nature deities.<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 456">Brown, 1993. p. 456</ref> It was also a period of intense immigration from Korea,<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 454">Brown, 1993. p. 454</ref> horse riders from northeast Asia,<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 455" /> as well as cultural influence from China,<ref>Brown, 1993. p. 453</ref> which had been unified under the [[Sui dynasty]] becoming the crucial power on the mainland.<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 454" /> Buddhism functioned to affirm the state's power and mold its position in the broader culture of East Asia.<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 456" /> Japanese aristocrats set about building Buddhist temples in the capital at [[Nara, Nara|Nara]].<ref name="Brown, 1993. p. 456" /> However, the government's vast investment in spreading Buddhism during the Nara period (646-794) led to corruption, and led to reformation period and a shift in focus from Nara to the new capital of Heian (now [[Kyoto]]).<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of Japanese religion |date=2007 |publisher=Kosei |isbn=978-4-333-01917-5 |editor-last=Kasahara |editor-first=Kazuo |edition=6. print |location=Tokyo |editor-last2=McCarthy |editor-first2=Paul}}</ref>{{multiple image
| align             = center
| width             = 150
| caption1          = {{Transliteration|ja|[[Tōshōdai-ji]]}}, an early Buddhist temple in Nara
| image1            = Toshodaiji Nara Nara pref01s5s4290.jpg
| image2            = Myoudouji-tenple 1.jpg
| caption2          = {{Transliteration|ja|Myoudou-ji}}, a [[Jōdo Shinshū|Jodo Shin]] temple with distinctive architectural style
| image3            = Daihozan Monjuin 04.JPG
| caption3          = {{Transliteration|ja|Monju-in}}, a [[Shingon Buddhism|Shingon]] temple in [[Matsuyama, Ehime|Matsuyama]], [[Ehime Prefecture|Ehime]]
| image4            = Interior - Hyakumanben chion-ji - Kyoto - DSC06544.JPG
| caption4          = Inner hall of {{Transliteration|ja|Hyakumanben chion-ji}} a [[Jōdo-shū|Jodo]] temple in [[Kyoto]]
}}The six Buddhist sects initially established in Nara are today together known as "[[Nanto Rikushū|Nara Buddhism]]" and are relatively small. When the capital moved to Heian, more forms of Buddhism arrived from China, including the still-popular [[Shingon Buddhism]], an esoteric form of Buddhism similar to Tibet's Vajrayana Buddhism, and [[Tendai]], a monastic conservative form known better by its Chinese name, [[Tiantai]].

When the [[Kamakura shogunate|shogunate]] took power in the 12th century and the administrative capital moved to [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]], more forms of Buddhism arrived. The most culturally influential was [[Zen]], which focused on meditation and attaining enlightenment in this life. Two schools of Zen were established, [[Rinzai]] and [[Sōtō]]; a third, [[Ōbaku]], formed in 1661.

With the [[Meiji Restoration]] in 1868 and its accompanying centralisation of imperial power and modernisation of the state, [[State Shinto|Shinto]] was made the state religion. An order of [[shinbutsu bunri|elimination of mutual influence of Shinto and Buddhism]] was also enacted, followed by a [[haibutsu kishaku|movement to thoroughly eradicate Buddhism]] from Japan.

Today, the most popular school in Japan is [[Pure Land Buddhism]], which arrived in the form of independent schools in the [[Kamakura period]], although elements of it were practiced in Japan for centuries beforehand. It emphasizes the role of [[Amitabha|Amitabha Buddha]] and promises that reciting the phrase {{Transliteration|ja|"[[nianfo|Namu Amida Butsu]]"}} will result in being taken by Amitabha upon death to the "Western Paradise" or "[[Pure Land]]", where [[Buddhahood]] is more easily attained. Pure Land attracted members from all of the different classes, from farmers and merchants to noblemen and samurai clans, such as the [[Tokugawa clan]]. There are two primary branches of Pure Land Buddhism today: {{Transliteration|ja|[[Jōdo-shū]]}}, which focuses on repeating the phrase many times as taught by [[Hōnen|Honen]], and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Jōdo Shinshū]]}}, which claims that only saying the phrase once with a pure heart is necessary, as taught by [[Shinran]]. Two smaller schools of Pure Land Buddhism exist as well, those of [[Ji-shu]] and [[Yuzu Nembutsu]], although these are significantly smaller than their larger counterparts.

Another prevalent form of Buddhism is [[Nichiren Buddhism]], which was established by the 13th century monk [[Nichiren]] who underlined the importance of the [[Lotus Sutra]]. The main representatives of Nichiren Buddhism include sects such as {{Transliteration|ja|[[Nichiren Shū]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Nichiren Shōshū]]}}, and lay organisations like {{Transliteration|ja|[[Risshō Kōsei Kai]]}} and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Soka Gakkai]]}}—a denomination whose political wing forms the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Komeito]]}}, Japan's third largest political party. Common to most lineages of Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting of {{Transliteration|ja|[[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō]]}} (or Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) and the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Gohonzon]]}} inscribed by Nichiren.

{{As of|2018}}, there were 355,000+ Buddhist monks, priests and leaders in Japan,<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Agency for Cultural Affairs]]|title=宗教年鑑 令和元年版|trans-title=Religious Yearbook 2019|url=https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/hakusho_nenjihokokusho/shukyo_nenkan/pdf/r01nenkan.pdf#page=49|page=35|year=2019|language=ja}}</ref> an increase of over 40,000 compared to 2000.<ref>{{cite book|author=Agency for Cultural Affairs|year=2002|title=宗教年鑑 平成13年版|trans-title=Religious Yearbook 2001|url=https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/hakusho_nenjihokokusho/shukyo_nenkan/pdf/h13nenkan.pdf#page=45|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|language=ja|page=31|isbn=978-432406748-2}}</ref>