Editing Religion in Japan (section)

===Comments against religion by notable figures===
*'''[[Shin'ichi Hisamatsu]]''', philosopher and scholar who rejected theism, claimed that God or Buddha, as objective beings, are mere illusions.<ref name="furuya">{{cite book|title=A history of Japanese theology|first=Yasuo|last=Furuya|page=94|publisher=Eerdmans Publishing|year=1997|isbn=978-0802841087}}</ref>
*'''[[Ito Hirobumi]]''', four-time [[Prime Minister of Japan]], who reportedly said: "I regard religion itself as quite unnecessary for a nation's life; science is far above superstition, and what is religion – Buddhism or Christianity – but superstition, and therefore a possible source of weakness to a nation? I do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism, which is almost universal in Japan because I do not regard it as a source of danger to the community".<ref name="gulick">{{cite book|title=Evolution of the Japanese, Social and Psychic|first=Sidney L.|last=Gulic|page=198|isbn=9781426474316|publisher=BiblioBazaar|year=1997}}</ref>
*'''[[Hiroyuki Kato]]''', who headed the Imperial Academy from 1905 to 1909 and said: "Religion depends on fear".<ref name="gulick"/>
*'''[[Haruki Murakami]]''', a Japanese novelist who wrote: "God only exists in people’s minds. Especially in Japan, God's always has been a kind of flexible concept. Look at what happened to the war. [[Douglas MacArthur]] ordered the divine emperor to quit being a God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person".<ref name="factsanddetails">{{cite web|last1=Hays|first1=Jeffrey|title=Religion in Japan and the Irreligious Japanese|url=http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat16/sub182/item592.html#chapter-6|website=Facts and Details|access-date=10 October 2015|language=en|date=July 2012}}</ref>
*'''[[Ando Shoeki]]''', who denounced Confucian scholars and Buddhist clergy as spiritual oppressors of his age, though he still venerated the gods of old Japan as a [[pantheism|pantheist]] would, equating them with nature.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nakamura|first=Hajime|title=A comparative history of ideas|year=1992|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|location=Delhi|isbn=9788120810044|edition=1st Indian|page=519}}</ref>
*'''[[Fukuzawa Yukichi]]''', who was regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan and found it impossible to combine modern learning with belief in gods,<ref>{{cite book|last=Thelle|first=Notto R.|title=Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: from conflict to dialogue, 1854-1899|year=1987|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|location=Honolulu|isbn=978-0824810061|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/buddhismchristia00thel}}</ref> openly declaring: "It goes without saying that the maintenance of peace and security in society requires a religion. For this purpose any religion will do. I lack a religious nature, and have never believed in any religion. I am thus open to the charge that I am advising others to be religious while I am not so. Yet my conscience does not permit me to clothe myself with religion when I have it not at heart...Of religions there are several kinds – Buddhism, Christianity, and what not. From my standpoint there is no more difference between those than between green tea and black...".<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-1440055249|title=A Short History of Freethought Ancient and Modern|volume=2|first=J.M.|last=Robertson|page=425|publisher=Forgotten Books|year=2010}}</ref>