(1) Shinto
Shinto is an inherent national religious belief in Japan and a religion with a long history in Japan. It has no leader or only a god like Sakyamuni. It originated from the soil of Japanese traditional culture, but it has been deeply influenced by foreign culture. Its followers keep some contact with temples or churches all over the world. According to the nature of these shrines and other organizations, Shintoism is generally divided into two categories, namely shrine Shintoism and sectarian Shintoism.
Shinto and main hall of the shrine
Shinto in the shrine is the main body of Japanese Shinto. The so-called Shinto in the shrine refers to Shinto centered on the shrine. In other words, it refers to the belief that there is no religious theory or religious faction, and the ancestral gods, clan gods and regional gods are worshipped around the shrine. Almost every population gathering place in Japan has at least one shrine. So far, there are still 82,000 shrines in China. Some of these shrines worship ancestors (clan gods). Some offer sacrifices to gods who specialize in protecting people's interests, such as the rice lotus god who has a bumper harvest in agriculture, the god who protects health and gives birth to offspring, etc. Japan has been known as "eight million gods" since ancient times. Each shrine offers sacrifices to one or two of them. The so-called Shintoism, the ancestor of the Emperor, is only one of the eight million gods, so the Ise Shrine dedicated to Shintoism is also a Shintoism shrine. The custom of visiting a shrine after marriage and Chinese New Year, so almost everyone is regarded as the "son" of a shrine. This is why the statistics of the Department of Culture mentioned at the beginning of this section show that Shinto believers are almost equal to the total population. In this sense, mastering the Shinto in the shrine means mastering all the people. Therefore, before the war, the Japanese militaristic authorities established a "national Shinto" with Shinto as the main body, ruling the people ideologically. After the end of World War II, in order to prevent the revival of militarism, the headquarters of the allied forces occupying Japan issued a "Shinto directive" to the Japanese government in February 1945, abolishing the national Shinto and separating politics from religion. In view of this, on February 1946 and February 14, Shinto groups in the shrine jointly established a non-state-run religious legal person-the main hall of the shrine. It takes Ise Shrine, the ancestor of the Emperor, as the main god, and takes "respecting the gods, seeking the prosperity of the shrine, propagating Shinto and promoting morality" as its purpose. It has been affiliated to nearly 80 100 shrines or groups distributed all over the country, with 27,500 clergy, accounting for 98% of the total number of shrines in the country. Its legal representative is thomas lee, its decision-making body is a council composed of clergy and representatives selected from "descendants" (believers), and its executive body is the council.
The formation and present situation of sectarian Shinto
Shinto originated from a new religion that appeared in the late Edo period. The Meiji government successively approved these new religions and other sects and other 13 sects as "sects of Shinto", commonly known as "Thirteen sects of Shinto". The characteristics of these sects are that almost all of them have clear doctrines and strict organizations, and almost all of them have the word "religion" in their names, which shows that they have certain independence. After World War II, the original thirteen sects, except some sects, formed the Sect Shinto Federation as their religious mission. 1964, there were more than 80 branches of the Shinto Federation of this Sect. By the end of February 2000, Shintoism had 36 10000 followers and 5860 churches and other corporate bodies.
(2) Buddhism
Buddhism can be said to be a foreign religion in Japan, but some people think that Buddhism has been nationalized in Japan and should not be regarded as a foreign religion. It has a long history. Japanese feudal society generally experienced two stages: the prevailing traditional Buddhism stage (Nara era and heian period) and the prevailing new Buddhism Kamakura era. Edo period and Meiji Restoration entered a low tide, and gradually developed and expanded after World War II.
By June 5438+February 3, 20001,there were 94.09 million Buddhists in Japan, including 3.48 million Tiantai Sect. Shinrikyo system has 6.5438+0.27 million people; There are 6.5438+0.95 million people in the pure land Sect system; 3.35 million people in Zen; Rilianzong system170,000 people; Nara Buddhist system has 760,000 people; There are 37.3 million Buddhists (such as Sōka Gakkai) among the so-called "independent religious legal persons" who have not joined the horizontal joint organization. * * * There are 85,745 monasteries and other facilities and 204,380 clergy.
The All-Japan Buddhist Association is the only joint organization of Japanese Buddhism, with more than 65,438+000 subordinate groups. There are about 80,000 temples or monasteries in Japan, belonging to various sects, of which more than 90% belong to the All-Japan Buddhist Association and its subordinate sects and groups.
(3) Christianity
Christianity, a foreign religion, has experienced twists and turns in Japan. It was brutally suppressed and strongly supported. At present, Japanese people seem to feel close to this religion, as evidenced by the fact that more and more young people are willing to hold weddings in Christian churches. However, the number of believers who were formally baptized and joined Christianity did not increase.
According to the Japanese Christian Yearbook (1999 edition), there were 1 104 167 Christians in Japan (1998 edition), accounting for about 0.879% of the total population in that year. Among them, there are 602,845 Protestants and Catholics. The number of clergy is 184 10, totaling 1 104 167. By June 365438+February 3, 20001,the total number of believers was 1745000 (including independent religious legal persons).
The national organizations of Japanese Christianity are the Japan Christian Federation and the Japan Christian Council. The Christian Federation of Japan has 60 group members, the largest of which is the Catholic Central Council. The Japanese Christian Council is mainly a Protestant national organization with 33 full or semi-full members, the largest of which is the Japanese Christian Council, followed by the Japanese Episcopal Church.
(4) Other religions
The so-called other religions refer to religions other than Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity. Some of these religions have a long history, but most of them were established after modern times, especially after the Second World War. Therefore, some people call it "new religion". On March 7th, 2000 10, these religious groups jointly established a national organization-1953, which was approved by the government as a consortium legal person. This Federation (hereinafter referred to as "Protestant Union"), together with the shrine, Shinto Sect Federation, All-Japan Buddhist Association and Japan Christian Federation, formed the representative organization of Japanese religious circles-Japan Religious Union. The purpose of the "New Religious Alliance" is "freedom of religious belief, religious cooperation and separation of church and state". The new Federation has 66 members, with 1 1 "general branches" in all regions of the country, and 55 agreement meetings in all prefectures and counties.