Enter Through the Form

Explore Japan

Authors Meryl Meisler & Francine LaPorte

Photography & Video Meryl Meisler

Belief and Value Systems of Japan

Shinto is native to Japan. Shinto's mythology deems the landscape as sacred, inhabited by the Kami. Daily practices and important festivals and rituals keep one mindful of each stage of life and important events. Shrines are constructed according to prescribed designs laden with significance.

For more information about Shinto go to http://religioustolerance.org/shinto.htm

Buddhism traveled from India to China to Korea and finally to Japan. It was embraced and interwoven with other belief systems, expressing an egalitarian view of society, respect for nature, and living in harmony with all living things. Worldliness and materialism were eschewed in favor of study and self-discipline, leading one toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment.

Neo-Confucian originated in China and was reshaped according to the exigencies of the restrictive and rigid hierarchical feudal society of the Tokugawa Shoguns. A strict class and personal dress and behavior code delineated authority, power, and fidelity.

In 21st Century Japan many people practice a combination of belief systems, values and rituals. For example, an individual or family might go to Shinto festivals and a neighborhood shrine, follow Neo-Confucian roles and behavior at home or work, and practice zazen (seated meditation) at a Buddhist temple. It is said that the Japanese are "Shinto at birth and Buddhist at death".

Find out about the influences of Japanese belief systems on its architecture at http://asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/architecture.htm#DESIGN%20CONCEPT