Like most questions related to Japan, religion is complex and interesting. The major religion of Japan is Buddhism, distributed among dozens of sects like Nichiren and Shingon and Tendaishu, although it’s frankly all Greek to me (see below). Although around 70% of Japanese describe themselves as Buddhist, it’s hard to separate the religion from the overall culture of Japan, since so many aspects of life here (like not sticking your chopsticks up in your rice, or not sleeping with your head pointing north) flow unconsciously from the religion. I arrived in Japan in 1991 knowing nothing about Buddhism, and I still know nothing in 2008, although I’ve enjoyed observing everything around me, even if I didn’t always understand what I was seeing. One surprise I had in store for me was that Buddhism in Japan doesn’t seem to have much to do with trying to achieve Enlightenment through fasting or denying yourself worldly pleasures — truth be told, most Buddhist priests I’ve known owned really expensive Mercedes Benz cars. No, Buddhism here is all about remembering and loving your ancestors, and over the course of a year there are many events related to making those who have died before you know they’re not forgotten. Another surprise I got happened during my first visit to Nara, the capital 1200 years ago. Outside Todaiji Temple there are two giant statues of Buddhist guardian deities — manifestations of the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, or something like that — which looked to my eyes like something out of Ancient Greece. And indeed, the Nio figures are good examples of the Greco-Buddhist artistic tradition, which made it all the way to Japan. Amazing!
