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RELIGION
SHINTO:
THE NATIVE RELIGION
Shinto is Japan's oldest religion, the "way of
the gods." Its core concept is that deities, kami,
preside over all things in nature, be they living, dead,
or inanimate.
There
are lesser and greater kami, worshipped at thousands
of shrines (jinja) erected on hills and along waysides.
From ancient times the emperor's rule was sanctioned
by the
authority of the greatest gods, said to be his 
ancestors.
Shinto was the state religion from the 1870s
to 1940s.
Today, few Japanese are purely Shintoists,
but most will
observe Shinto rituals alongside Buddhist
practices. Many Japanese habits, such as an emphasis
on purification and
an austere aesthetic, are derived
at least in part from Shinto.
Charms and Votive Tablets - Good-luck charms, called omamori, are sold at shrines across Japan. Common themees relate to fertility, luck in examinations, general health, or safety while driving. The charm itself might be written on a piece of paper or thin wooden board and tucked into a cloth bag, which can be worn next to the body or placed somewhere relevant. (Do not open the bag to read the charm or it will not work.) Prayers or wishes cal also be written on ema boards and hung at the shrine.
BUDDHISM IN JAPAN
Buddhism, founded in India, arrived in Japan via China
and Korea in the 6th century A.D Different sects evolved
and were adopted over the centuries. The new religion
sometimes had an uneasy relationship with Shinto, despite
incorporating parts of the native belief system. Buddhism
lost official support in 1868 but has flowered again
since World War II. The complex cosmological beliefs
and morality of Buddhism permeate modern Japanese life,
especially in the emphasis on mental control found in
Zen Buddhism.
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