@@KingOfBboys Nah even Muslim countries have a significant level of divorce the only difference is their former religion or culture has a very negative view of divorce but this is not all Muslim countries for example Somalia would have a very high level of divorce as people especially the rural and nomadic people are very willing to completely just divorce over an issue on the spot and just tell people on the phone or when they met them.
In this video, Shogo did an excellent join of tiptoeing around the question while never getting around to really answering it. Are Japanese atheists? He never really gives a clear yes or no answer. While I learned alot from watching this video, I almost feel clickbaited.
My japanese friends told me theyre best describe as agnostic, they dont deny the existing of gods, but they also dont deny the absense of gods. Theyre also not atheist because they somehow believe in spirits or deities in everything. They celebrate native festivities because of tradition. They celebrate foreign religious festivities like xmas for commercial purpose.
Also, Christmas is the closest thing Japanese have to Valentine's, as actual Valentine's is you giving chocolate to the person(s) you like, in preparation for White Day. But Christmas is basically a romantic celebration for couples.
Most Japanese will tell you they are not religious but in reality they still have animism mindset. So, actually they are not considered themselves as religious by Abrahamic (Judaism, Christian, Islam) standard but most of them still believe existence of ghost in haunted house, that's why the house or apartement that stigmatized as haunted in Japan have lower demand so the rent fee will be cheaper.
@AliceEphemeral You can use buzz words all you want. Science is no more than the belief that knowledge can acquired about the world through observation and experimentation. Religion involves the recognition and worship of superhuman deities based on faith.
The old "Viking" aproach why say no to a reason to party? Combined with the old missionary aproach don't forbidd the heathens old feasts just make them a Christian one...
Hm... It's a somewhat complicated question for Sweden, since up until relatively recently (i.e. into the 2000s) the centralized church administration automatically registered newborns - your ties to Christianity then being a question of opting out, instead of opting in. Religion is definitely not a big affair here, but my gut feeling says that it's more accurate to say that religious expression is understated rather than people not being religious. My lived experience is that surprisingly many are active participants in religious communities.
Scandinavians are post-christians, they totally embraced and interiorized the moral values of christianity (egality, compassion, forgiveness) and rejected its dogmatic and totalitarian aspects.
Almost 15 years ago, my uncle, who had grown up in the Philippines, a very religious Catholic Christian country, but had worked for a few years in Chiba Prefecture before moving to Canada, told me, "Japanese people are not religious, but they are very spiritual". This was before I started learning Japanese and we'll before I got a chance to spend time in Japan. Since my own religious/nonreligious identity is a big theme in my life in my family and in the US, what my uncle said back then was something I pondered for a long time, including when I went to Japan. So although you couldn't have intended it this weekend at, this well researched video was very personal, and provided me with a perspective I don't think I would have obtained for a long time. Thank you for all your hard work on this!
Great video Shogo! The last section that addresses the nuances of being "non-religious" in a monotheistic versus polytheistic society, gets at an idea that is critical to understand the Japanese worldview, but is something I often struggle to explain well. I will probably borrow some of these talking points!
@@OllamhDrab I think this is even more complicated by people like me considering religious as being some sort of zealot like ultra-orthodox jews or Salafi Muslim or evangelical Christians rather than some random believer in any religion and for those that don't believe in a specific god I think the term irreligious but I don't know if this is just me but this is how I see things about religion
@@abdiabdi3225 There's a lot of different notions of what really 'counts' as 'religious' out there, whether by what degree of piety, what type of religion, etc, ...for instance in Japan it seems like people can do lots of folk-religious activities while not counting themselves as 'religious,' whereas in America the same folks doing the same sorts of things or less might answer, "Sure, I'm kinda religious." I think in part it's so in Japan cause a lot of these practices are pretty seamless without having to make big professions of belief or suchlike, and there's fewer people out there tryign to 'convert nonbelievers' and all.
Maybe we could regard some Japanese people as "Spiritual But Not Religious", since they just practice the religious rituals as part of customs. Spirituality does not mean being religious.
Wouldn't it be the opposite? Making them more "religious" instead of "spiritual" if they did rituals because of customs. After all, a custom is something you do out of tradition, and in the case of religion, not because you really belive it.
@@bbernie True l, but some of them (not explicitly mentioned on this video) even those who claimed to not follow a religion still believe in Spirits and divinity etc.
Thank you for this thorough explanation of the belief systems in Japan. Although some channels give a superficial explanation of Shintoism and Buddhism, this is the first time I've seen it explained in such a way that makes everything make sense. It's a very well executed and informative video. ありがとうございます！😁
A lot is not above layman understanding, and some are fighting to remind them that Shinto and Buddhism was not separated until the Meiji era, but many still cling to a misguided mysticism. Not only that this video didn't include the influence from Taoism to the formulation of Shinto or Onmyodo.
I have talked about this topic with my Japanese penpal. And your explanation makes it even more clear for me. So many thanks for sharing your wonderful knowledge with us. 🍻🤗
I have similar experiences talking about religion with my Japanese acquaintances. I wasn't able to fully grasp on how they talked about their beliefs, since I grew up believing that everyone has a religion (I grew out of that thinking now.). So they just said "Buddhist" instead, even if they may not be literal Buddhists. Even when I searched the internet about it, it still made things unclear to me. I'm really glad this video exists because it adds the context and summarizes everything on Japanese beliefs.
The Japanese are currently culturally spiritual and do many of those practices but see being overtly religious as a dangerous thing and avoid it. I think I got it. 🙇 Thanks for helping me get closer to an understanding.
What about Christianity I’m a Christian and it saddens me to see 1 percent of Japanese are Christians especially with Jesus returning soon and the end of the world.
@@BargerClan From your POV that is important but to help you understand: Say Jesus is coming in one year (Bible says no one knows day or hour but let’s just say it). Then what would you think that Christian should do? Start screaming on the street? Telling people to take the religion? Pass a law? All those things disrupt society and that is a major issue to the Japanese and just the idea of that scares them because it has happened before with other religions causing war and disruption. So see that is a problem from the Japanese POV. The issue is clear if you look up the influence of religion in Japanese history (this even goes in a way up to WWII). And unless you understand this you can’t really understand what is really going on.
@@leodouskyron5671 The New Testament says that we will have Continent breaking earthquakes and since Japan is on the ring of fire fault line along with California those countries probably won’t exist in the book of revelations, and when Jesus comes back hell probably isn’t gonna be a fun place to spend eternity that’s why Japan needs Jesus
@@BargerClan You managed to not listen to a thing I said. You didn’t care. I had a long post to say but why explain? I am talking about a culture. There are other forums to talk about this In the way you seem want to. Just not here.
I think I sort of understand the first point when he said about the difference of the concept of religion in monotheistic belief vs polytheism. It's almost the same with how many people misunderstood the concept of Hinduism and (Indian) Buddhism. They are not religion in the first place, they are Dharma. There's no direct translation of Dharma, it's like law, way of living, etc that exist as an eternal wisdom, yet existence of sacred text, codified beliefs, prophets; etc are not really the point of it. Dharma is Dharma, not a religion, and it's definitely hard to mold into the western concept of "religion".
The western idea of religion was an Invention by Western Academics 300 years ago to separate Religion from Culture. Literally everyone before these Academics saw religion as Part of Culture. This explains why the West has such a different idea of Religion. Because they separated Religion from. CULTURE while everyone else saw Religion as part of Culture.
I absolutely LOVE the way Japanese handles religion/spirituality/ritual. Some of the most moving moments of my life were experiencing the rituals of Japan at shrines and temples, including Ise Jingu. It was one of the reasons I considered moving there (from the US).
i had recently learned about Buddhism and religion in Japan, but most of what you had said here was not taught to me, this honestly shows me how much information they leave out of history lessons, thank you for making these wonderful videos, they have taught me much more about Japan than my history lessons ever could.
great video. as an interesting note, here in brazil (a monotheistic-cultured country), when people say they are non-religious, it is not taken necessarily as agnoticism or atheism, but can be understood as non-confessional theism
Yup, same here in the USA, in fact someone saying they are “non-religious” usually means they are still theists but don’t follow a religion. For people to think you are atheist you would have to clearly state you are
Thank you for doing this video. I think for most Japanese this is absolutely correct. Although there are distinct minorities that anyone would consider religious, the vast majority would fall into this classification. Please note that Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu does not exactly have a "heaven" (tengoku), but a Pure Land (jodo). Also there are many buddhas (everyone has the ability to become a buddha). Too many people equate "Buddha" with "God".
Since you seem to know more about buddhism, my knowledge is a little limited but I always thought it's about reincarnation, wouldn't that contradict the belief of heaven since it stands for eternal afterlife, or does the main belief differ between the different teachings of buddhism
@@LaNoir.Buddhism is about enightenment, not reincarnation. The aim of Buddhism is to break the chain of rebirths in order to reach ultimate truth and realization; Nirvana
I feel I took one of the best classes I"ve taken. This was great and in depth 🙌 It put a lot of things in perspective. Im glad shinto and budhism are still alive today
Wow, this was a great video, Shogo! Such a complex subject spread across the whole of Japanese history, and you presented it all succinctly, with clarity and insight. I found this very illuminating and VERY enjoyable. This is one of your videos that I will certainly re-watch. Excellent work! Thank you for the time and effort that you and your wife put into these presentations.
You mentioned Christmas being religious, in many western nations it isn't truly seen as religious by all peoples. For me Christmas is a holiday used by companies to take money from people by selling them things and making everything money oriented
@@kuyaroyroy3635 I will partially agree with you. It is abused because it has become "Mandatory" to give gifts to everyone in your family and close friends. It is why I say that it is a holiday used by companies. The term I had forgotten that fits is Commercialized. There are lots of Pagan roots to Christmas and even the "Reason for the season" as is said at times is forgotten because of the commercialization of the season
@@buellrichardson5222 Christmas is the celebration of the birth of christ. Yes we know he wasn't born on December 25th, but it is the days that it is observed
@@nichy7734 I will agree that it is when Christians observe the birth. Though do you know why they observe it not when he was actually born? I will tell you, it was a way to convert Pagans during the formation of the Catholic Church. Many of the traditions that are observed at Christmas Time are Pagan in origin. I have see way to many Christians make the claim that Christ was born on December 25th and they are adamant about that. They are also the ones who say there is a war on Christianity because people say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. Christmas as we know it is a commercialized day that has nothing to do with what many Christians say it does. There is no real observing the birth of someone who may or may not have lived so many years ago. There is no loving your neighbor because that is the Christian way. There is no being kind to a stranger because that is the Christian way. When Christians can stop accusing the world of making war on them and look at how they have made war on the world then I might be open to accepting that there are some who do actually celebrate Christmas for the reason you say.
@@buellrichardson5222 yeah...agree with you....they just sugarcoat Christmas day to convert the pagan....as that day also the birthday of the pagan god at that time
Oh my gosh this video was so informative and interesting. I am greatful for Shogo's explaination on this topic... I went to Japan 3 years ago and went to the Edo museum and got a tour (My Japanese tour guide was great). But Now this video explains SOO much more that I wanted to know. Also I am an anime lover so now I understand more about all these wars and periods that some anime are based on. It's so ironic that all these stategies to maintain power have resulted in the Japan I see today. There is no country without unification so I can see how the themes of Survival and Continuity are present. Shogo's explanation has me taking another look at everything I thought I understood in a new light
I'm happy you did take a trip to Japan, most people only relay on anime to say "This is Japan!"..... I always stop them and say "HOLD UP!.... have you went to Japan personality or even is it on your bucket list?" it stops them and think about it, I have a neighbor who have a bucket list to go to Japan for the first time and he is learning from me and my biological brother how Japan is. He gets both sides of the spectrum because I'm a royal myself, but me and some of my sibblings had been put threw being adopted or going threw military threw America. But I'm happy you went to Japan to understand a whole new meaning of the land, I bet you miss some dishes at Japan that you wish you can have now that's in anime right!?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The non-religiousness of Japan reminds me of Deism that we had in the west, believing in some version of God, but not in a religious way, and not holding to any particular belief. Nowadays we have a lot of people that believe God exists, but don’t really study religion, and so are “non-religious”. I find religion very interesting, but I don’t get to talk to very many people about it, as it’s also somewhat taboo in the west too, along with politics
@@EnigmazGuide That's naturalism. Atheism is just nonbelief in gods. Of course, there are lots of people who are both, but they are still distinct concepts.
Very well explained Shogo! Before I watched your video, the religious situation in Japan was confusing to me, but now I think I have gained a good understanding of the topic, thank you! ありがとうございます！
"I personally believe that every person on this planet has the right to believe in anything they want, but...I do not support any religion or belief that justifies violence and tries to destroy diversity." SAME, Shogo-san, SAME. There are millions of us that feel this way all over the world. Staunch religious beliefs that promote singularity are destructive. I love the original idea of shinto, before it was essentially exploited by the powers that be to subjugate the people. Worship nature! be thankful for the river that provides water to your village, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi keeping time and the days rolling on, it's all lovely and reverent of our environment. There is beauty in respect for the earth and all its inhabitants...Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for a nuanced and enlightening video. It seems as though in an indirect, zigzag way, the Japanese worked out a working secularist culture in response to social pressures that would have otherwise forced people to consent to ideologies that were exploitative and oppressive. This is something to celebrate.
@David Lee Japanese still have strong animism mindset like they will avoid to rent house or apartement that stigmatized as haunted house because believe in yuurei. So, they are actually not as irreligious as westerners think.
its weird now that buddhism is no more a religion but a spiritual way of life and shintoism is followed overseas and have shinto priests who are not japanese by ethnicity and are distinctly religious by identity and serve that purpose.
@saymyname2417 To me it sounds like OP means the culture is very religious which is very true in a certain sense. The Japanese culture is absolutely stuffed with tradition, ceremony and superstition.
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between fascism in Italy and Japan. Replace Shinto with ancient Rome, and the emperor with the duce and you obtain a very similar story. It's weird how fascism glorifies past traditions/myths, yet seeks to destroy and renew everything. It's contradictory in its nature.
This is one of those topics I’ve always wondered about but could never really find a solid answer for. I could’ve asked when I visited Japan, but it felt like one of those things I shouldn’t bring up. Thank you for this video! Very well done.
I had an interesting conversation about religion with my non-religious Japanese friend. I'm a Christian - Catholic, to be more precise. So even when I lived in Japan, I went to church every Sunday, sometimes more often, and that's how my friend noticed how relatively religious I was, and asked me about it. For some reason, she was really curious about what it's like to have a strong, genuine faith, so I tried my best to briefly explain my personal experience of Christianity. My friend is the example of a typical Japanese who respects the Shinto and Buddhism related traditions (we went to some shrines together, even tried omikuji) but without much faith in either belief system. It was good to be able to share such different views on religion and compare our cultures. Our conversation was peaceful, filled with pure curiosity, without accusing, judging or ridiculing each other - a proof that religion doesn't necessarily have to create conflicts. However, Japanese people in the church I went to were very enthusiastic about their Christian faith. They also seemed to enjoy the community itself, and the charity work as well, which was super nice. But even being Catholics, they still respected and celebrated Japanese traditions. Forr instance, it was very interesting to see a Catholic version of Shichi Go San. The kids came to church wearing kimonos and were blessed by the priest, as they normally would in a shrine.
Very interesting. As for the community activity aspects of the church, I can imagine they like them much. I moved from Japan to USA some time ago, and the church community activities here always remind me of those of Cyounai-kai/Jichi-kai (町内会/自治会).
Shogo, I really appreciate this video. You tackled a complex subject in a fair and balanced way. As a Western Soto Buddhist, I appreciated learning about the context of that philosophy in Japanese history from a Japanese person. I also appreciate the differentiation between being "non-religious" in a monotheistic vs. polytheistic culture. I think you nailed it on the head! And lastly, I've read the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, out of interest in Japanese history and culture; your analysis thereof, and contextualizing in response to the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, gave me new insights into these texts. I feel I am closer to understanding the "truth" about religion in Japan, its history, its problems, and its context. Thank you so much! Doumo arigatou gozamashita!
Cool video, but just a small clarification, most atheist today, including myself, do not make any claims on whether gods exist or not (I'm agnostic on this claim), but are simply not convinced of any god claim that we have encountered.
Try to read Quran just chapter 112 (Al-ikhlas). If it doesn't make sense about the concept of God as you think, so there's no way you find better concept.
We actually have a some similar non-religious concepts in places with Christianity. In America we have disassociated several religious holidays from Christianity. Also have concepts like antitheism and agnosticism in addition to atheism. I think the main difference is that Japan vilified the religious and places with monotheistic religions vilified anyone not part of their religion, so the taboos were reversed.
This was really interesting. I recently watched a video on Shinto at the channel "Religion for Breakfast." Comparing the research of an outsider with a very western cultural experience, to the research of an actual Japanese person, was fascinating. Both very informative in different ways. Thank you.
Thank you Shogo so much for your videos! I'm learning more in hours than I could in years living in Japan. Of course I still want to visit, a beautiful and honorable people.
Hearing difference in Buddhism in different countries really intrigue me, politics really influence the teachings of Buddhism and how people practice it. Thank you for this gem of a video
I am loving this channel! I was always fascinated about Japanese culture! And now that I am finally learning a little bit about it, I am becoming even more passionate about it. Thank you, Shogo!
WOW! i was going to request a video about Shinto Religion i converted from Catholic to Shinto 4 years ago and my Life Has Been Much more Productive!? i am very Lucky the City i live in has a Shofuso and A Shinto Shrine i am new & still learning about the Religion and grateful you made this video,Arigato!
Forbid schools to teach Kojiki Is an absolute cruelty. Why japanese people should ignore their own native spirituality? Japan has done many mistakes for sure, but you don't have to be a nationalist or an extremist to appreciate the beauty of mithology.
I love this, watching stories and media from Japan has always been a bit confusing because this complex cultural relationship with belief, politics, and religions in Japan. As a pragmatic agnostic in the United States it can be hard to explain to people especially people of some faiths that I don’t see their faith as necessarily any more valid than any other even though in my family we celebrate Christmas and a few other holidays but not really in any sort of religious way like how you describe how most Japanese people view religion is not far from m own. I remember traveling to Thailand and seeing how Buddhism and their own culture, government, and royal family had their own story and history which was equally fascinating to my western eyes. Goodness what I would do to not have people ask my my religion or make assumptions that my non-belief equals that i am against them.
Thanks for another of your terrifically detailed videos on Japanese culture. I have the impression Japanese aren’t necessarily atheists but I think westerners may see it that way, as Japanese religious practices are not recognisable compared to the monotheistic traditions they are used to ( and especially compared to many Americans) have a much more laissez-faire approach to religion. Just on its own, Buddhism can be tricky categorise as a religion!! Add to the complexity that many Japanese practice aspects of mixed Shinto/Buddhist/confusionism I think most Japanese could be described as pantheistic rather than actual atheists.
The tale of the evolution of Japanese "religion" is fascinating. It reminds me of an evolutionary tree of certain species of animals. I conclude that the "religion" of many a Japanese people is "Japanese customs and tradition".
@@kazumakiryuu2668 Religion is dependent on believe system and when two believes come in one place they make chaos but when cultures come together they make an new culture which is beauty of human nature 🙏
They are agnostics, not atheists...They either avoid talking about religion or studying about religion.. Japanese Christians even call themselves as "clandestine Christians" because of the Japanese society. A certain Japanese family asked a Buddhist monk to conduct a funeral service for their parents...but it was just for their tradition. A few hours later, a Catholic priest conducted a funeral service for the family. I guess, when you are in Japan, you must hold on to traditions and culture even if it is against to the teachings of the religion you are affiliated.
Thank you for this. This explains soooo much. Especially the deifying of the emperor. This was a very educating video as it simplifies a complicated history of Japan. ありがとうございました
Thank you for the new video! However, I couldn't hear what you were saying at the end over the music. Listening very hard helped, but it also mad the music louder. For the next video, could you mix the music at the lower volume than the outro? The rest of the video was fine
Bro I really like your channel and your input about Japanese culture. I am not criticizing, just correcting....it's "gods and goddesses" not "gods and godnesses".
I wish that Korea had been able to resist Christian indoctrination like Japan did. Korea's already rich culture could have been so much richer if their homegrown religions and folklore had more time to develop and maybe become more mainstream. I feel like modern Koreans aren't able to really explore their cultural and religious roots before christianity came.
Nothing stopped them In Korean from doing that also Christianity is only 29% in korea many Koreans are going secular even more so then There traditional Belifes
@@el4276the influence of Muism seems a little more suppressed in Korean culture compared to shintoism in Japan. Which would make sense considering christianity has a history of just assimilating and subjugating shamanism as opposed to living in harmony with it which buddhism and shintoism seem to do
The way you explain it all,since the beginning,with all that information in short,it is very understandable!! Thank You so much for that specific explanation,I love the way your videos are.🥰
This video was fantastic as always. The historical explanation of how things came to be is very intereting and important for understanding differences in belief practices.
Well done Shogo, that was a very good and concise summary on the how and why as well as explaining the viewpoint of Japanese people about religion. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
Good video Shogo-San. Always good when you explain in a history perspective. Well. I don't have a religion, I believe in something, I'm far from be an atheist. Let's say... Japanese usually believe in something after death? That would solve a years old doubt for me. Thanks!
I've watched so many of your videos and you feel familiar to me enough that it's difficult for me to remember that we've never met, you live in Japan and you really aren't just a buddy of mine who lives down the street in my hometown in the U.S.! :P Keep up the great work, Shogo-san!
The difference is clearly just a question of semantics. Shinto practitioners clearly have animist beliefs in local spirits and they have very defined customs, principles and beliefs which are the marks of a religion, maybe not an organised religion but a religious system nonetheless. Calling Shinto "not a religion", while clever, may cause many many problems in the future. Especially since practicing a religion is protected by law but practicing a "proto-religion" like Shintoism is unregulated and can easily lead to discrimination to Shinto practioners and abuse from people who claim to be Shinto. People who claim that it's not a REAL religion because they don't have gods and just do stuff because of custom forget that Hinduism is officially classified as a religion and they have major gods but also many, many lesser gods that are barely more than local spirits and they do most of the stuff by custom, which is what the majority of people both religious and non-religious do.
Finally, someone gets it!! The reason why people call Shinto as "not a religion" is outright in denial. They just don't want to associate Shintoism with the word religion
Thank you very much for this excellently structured video. It helps me a lot to understand an aspect of Japanese culture that has always been confusing to me as a person from a society strongly influenced by monotheism. The effort you have put into this explanation has lead to a really great result.
Kind of sounds like the Japanese tend to view religion in general as being like the Catholic Church at the height of its power. A lot of the negative views about religion seem to mirror the problems that separated Protestants from the Catholic church. Still, I can't help but feel it must be hard to be Christian in Japan to this day. One of the tenets is spreading God's word and helping others to find salvation, which goes hard against principles of not discussing religion. Makes more sense now though that the vast majority of anime/manga set up religions as villains.
It seems that they don't like organized and perhaps even centralized religion mostly out of fear, due to their past history and culture. I'd argue though, that true Christianity would not be super hard against their culture- it actually resonates a lot with it. For those in the know, true Christianity is in essence not a religion- it's just most peoples' first contact with it, and it's how the outside secular world defines or views it. For those in the know, it's really about relationships- and much in the sense of how the Japanese would not call their practices of praying at the ancestor altar or saying "Itadakimasu" at mealtime as "religious". What's hard is the spread of any organized religion- because it requires that the people become fanatical. That's what they are avoiding.
@@jephilologist I agree with the general idea, the modern average Japanese person is mostly apathetic to religion because they don't want anything extra to worry or any more effort in their lives. However, please be mindful of how you describe Christianity. Organized Religions like Christianity don't require fanaticism to work, there is need for a dogma, rituals and faith, but fanatical followers only cause internal conflicts and separations and go against the core of religion itself unless you meant Radical sects and cults, but even so those are their own thing.
@@kristian64 yeah, this idea that institutionalized religion is inherently linked to fanatism is considerably arbitrary and prejudiced. I get that people think like that because throughout history religions either hold opressive power or were used as tools for maintenance of authority, but I think what modern society needs to acknowledge is that this is true to all ideologies and philosophies. I mean, kokka-shinto is a proof that even non-religion spirituality and "rational common sense" can be used as object of fanatism and tools for opression. I would dare to say that the gist of much of political discussions nowadays is straightfoward comparable to religious fanatism.
@@kristian64 Hmm. I might have overstated by using the term "fanatical". Apologies there. I meant something of a less dubious nature. Not really "fanaticism" in the extremist sense. So yes, I agree that Christianity does not need "fanaticism" to work. However, I still somewhat stand on my usage, since "fanatical" also means "a person who is extremely enthusiastic about and devoted to some interest or activity". Perhaps they think that that is what the major religions entail if they are to be any serious about any of them. So to me, as you said, it seems plain that one reason why they avoid organized religion is their perceived requirements from it- they don't want more to worry about in their already swamped lives. Most seem to be content to partake in the "benefits" and fun without the responsibilities. P.S. Wasn't really trying to describe Christianity using the word "fanatical" there. That was my word of choice to describe what I think is THEIR PERCEPTION of organized religions. Hope that's clearer.
Well, a myth was certainly busted (that Shintoism was the first religion of Japan). From the perspective of a person raised as a Christian, I find kokka Shinto unusual. Shogo, you state that it was the cause of Japan becoming militaristic and created grounds for supremacist thought. Here, among monotheists, religion creates cause for war more directly. While Imperial Japan never forced occupied people to convert to Shinto (as far as I know), Christian and Muslim powers frequently used the excuse that someone else is "an infidel" to start wars. Even in its darkest period, Japanese government actions weren't inspired by religion itself, but a desire to copy colonial powers. Where I live, two varieties of Christianity fought each other, and fought Islam, too. It's like Sengoku Jidai, but with rigid religious beliefs killing any chance for peace. I have given up on monotheism myself, as the bad and good things happening in the world make me believe in multiple deities being behind everything. In fact, Shinto gave me a plausible "way out" of dogmatic Christianity. BTW, your Canossa comparison is very good. The Pope was looking to rule over worldly matters, but he faced opposition from nobility who wanted to interfere with the Catholic Church, too.
Contrary to what Shogo says, shinto is from the very beginning associated with the formation of the ruling family of the Yamato family, i.e. the imperial family. Like every ruler at that time, they needed confirmation from heaven that they were the rightful rulers of the country and that was why the Shinto religion was formed (formalized). Contrary to what Shogo says, Buddhism is a way to enlighten the individual, it is a system of values, not a belief in a particular God, which contradicts the idea of one ruler.
I’m an atheist who celebrates Christmas…. I think the inability to understand comes from the inability to dissociate individual acts from a state of being? You don’t need to be religious or spiritual to enjoy going to a pretty temple. Like sometimes it’s just enjoyable to do things? Also there’s a ton of westerners who can’t even comprehend not being religious so. I guess I’m saying the flaw is in the rigid thinking.
Besides, Christmas was never intended to be "Jesus' Birthday". It was taking a holiday already celebrated by another group in an attempt to say "we'll celebrate it too!" I learned this in Catholic school before I even turned ten. It's intended to be a winter feast so you can celebrate family members/friends and that you survived another year. It's an ancient holiday that should you choose to celebrate, you're doing as the ancient Romans did. For the faithful... Jesus was said to be born in the summer/autumn so you're SOL guys. If you're looking for the real winter holiday that's the Twelfth Night. The Wise Men Show up late with Starbucks arguing over who decided to go above the gift limit and splurge on gold. But then they can't sell the "reason for the season" bumper stickers.
I've been aware of Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan, but had never learned intensively of the history. This video did just that + cleared some of my remaining confusion. So thank you, Shogo-san.
Wow i really liked this episode … thank you for explaining things. Now I know more. I usually never talk about this topic only when I’m asked because it’s I suppose kinda hard to explain my beliefs. I suppose. I believe in different things than most people do so sometimes when I try to explain it most people either don’t understand or get more interested in that topic. But I love that in people that everyone can believe or follow smth that they most excited or believe in. 💚 I accept everyone’s view of life or believes and so on. 💚
Excellent video; most informative with nuances in such a short time, one can watch at 1.25 or even 1.5 times normal speed. One can also see summary to get an idea.
Most atheists don't believe in spirits or spiritualism either but "atheism" refers strictly to the proposition that god(s) exist. Meaning, you can be an atheist & still believe in other supernatural stuff. 👻
Atheist are people who don't believe In spirits or god or any supernatural stuff Agnostic are people who don't believe but are open to believe if you provide evidence notable agnostic Neil Degrasse Tyson Then you got people who aren't religious but believe they're god and probably spirit
@@USSAnimeNCC- That is not how most people would define these terms. Agnostic/gnostic is a position about knowledge. Look at the etymology of the word agnostic (from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) 'without', and γνῶσις (gnōsis) 'knowledge'). Atheist/theist is a position about belief in a deity or multiple deities. - Agnostic: you don't know if deities exist or not. - Atheist: you don't believe that deities exist. That is, you reject the claim that "God(s) exist(s)". It doesn't say anything about your beliefs in other supernatural stuffs. You can be an "agnostic atheist", meaning you don't know if deities exist but don't believe in these (most of the time because of a lack of evidence). Most atheists and theists will drop the term "agnostic" because for them we can't possibly know so it is redundant. Anyway, people may have different definitions so it is always best to ask them what they are.
I live in a country where all the people always think and proud that they are the most religious people on earth and some of them always judge Japan as atheistic nation and will not having some good afterlife. But seeing many Japanese still praying on temples in rural area maybe may made them shut their mouth and stop for being overproud on their religion
Thanks for the clarification of the Japan's national religion. In fact, they had a national religion, Buddhism and Shintoism. Great history lesson, too.
Having studied comparative religions for some years, I am baffeled at how short a time it takes you to explain one of the most complex aspects of any culture. Especially the short formula about the difference between monotheism and polytheism, I might borrow that, if you don't mind. ;o)
As if you are Reading my Mind. I was wondering about the Questions you talked about in this Video, like are Majority of Japanese People Religious or not, and how come that both Buddhism and Shintoism are important in Japan. Thank you very much for your Great Video.
As someone who have been studying Japanese language and culture (including Japanese religion and faith), I think the first statement in the beginning of this video is the best short explanation.
Mr Shogo impresses me as a great liaison to understand Japanese culture. Having lived in the west, gives him a good point to view of various cultures. Keep up the good work, as its greatly appreciated.
Hi. I would like to say that i learned a lot about the history and culture of japan since i started watching anime when i was a kid and think to myself of what kind of life they japanese people have. 😊💕
Religion is trouble. Japanese and Scandinavians are mostly lucky to be mostly nonreligious. You see in those countries, after most people left religion they have less crime, more prosperous, more peaceful civil society, basically far from trouble.
But there are plenty of peaceful religions like "jainism" that also doesn't commit any crimes. Just because japan, and other Scandinavian countries have low crime rates. That doesn't mean that irreligion plays a role in it. There could be a lot of factors on why they have low crime rates. Irreligion doesn't correlate to peace.
I heard a saying something like: "Japanese people are Shintoists when born, Christians getting married, and Buddhists when dead."
So basically this is why divorce is common in this country, Even their God is divorced by them
@@taknaknak4957 Divorce is common everywhere (except maybe some muslim countries).
@@KingOfBboys I mean *There is no regret* , you know a Japanese P*rn actor married is common here and still doing the job
@@KingOfBboys There are weird customs of divorce in Islam.. Divorce is non popular only in India!!
@@KingOfBboys Nah even Muslim countries have a significant level of divorce the only difference is their former religion or culture has a very negative view of divorce but this is not all Muslim countries for example Somalia would have a very high level of divorce as people especially the rural and nomadic people are very willing to completely just divorce over an issue on the spot and just tell people on the phone or when they met them.
The ability to make a complicated subject understandable to the "non-expert" is one of the hallmarks of a very good teacher-OHKINI!
I was just talking about this the other day.
You could say its one of the hallmarks of a truly "Great" teacher
In this video, Shogo did an excellent join of tiptoeing around the question while never getting around to really answering it. Are Japanese atheists? He never really gives a clear yes or no answer. While I learned alot from watching this video, I almost feel clickbaited.
@@mugsofmirth8101 The topic was specifically "non-religious", not atheists. Secondly, 24:08 is his opinion.
My japanese friends told me theyre best describe as agnostic, they dont deny the existing of gods, but they also dont deny the absense of gods. Theyre also not atheist because they somehow believe in spirits or deities in everything. They celebrate native festivities because of tradition. They celebrate foreign religious festivities like xmas for commercial purpose.
Also, Christmas is the closest thing Japanese have to Valentine's, as actual Valentine's is you giving chocolate to the person(s) you like, in preparation for White Day. But Christmas is basically a romantic celebration for couples.
Most Japanese will tell you they are not religious but in reality they still have animism mindset. So, actually they are not considered themselves as religious by Abrahamic (Judaism, Christian, Islam) standard but most of them still believe existence of ghost in haunted house, that's why the house or apartement that stigmatized as haunted in Japan have lower demand so the rent fee will be cheaper.
As Agnostic myself, Yes we are like that
@ Clearly you haven’t encountered enough people in your life.
@AliceEphemeral You can use buzz words all you want. Science is no more than the belief that knowledge can acquired about the world through observation and experimentation. Religion involves the recognition and worship of superhuman deities based on faith.
Sounds like Scandinavia to me.
Alot of people say they aren't religious but celebrate most if not all religious holidays.
China too.
I think it is true for most of europe.
The old "Viking" aproach why say no to a reason to party? Combined with the old missionary aproach don't forbidd the heathens old feasts just make them a Christian one...
Hm... It's a somewhat complicated question for Sweden, since up until relatively recently (i.e. into the 2000s) the centralized church administration automatically registered newborns - your ties to Christianity then being a question of opting out, instead of opting in. Religion is definitely not a big affair here, but my gut feeling says that it's more accurate to say that religious expression is understated rather than people not being religious. My lived experience is that surprisingly many are active participants in religious communities.
Scandinavians are post-christians, they totally embraced and interiorized the moral values of christianity (egality, compassion, forgiveness) and rejected its dogmatic and totalitarian aspects.
Almost 15 years ago, my uncle, who had grown up in the Philippines, a very religious Catholic Christian country, but had worked for a few years in Chiba Prefecture before moving to Canada, told me, "Japanese people are not religious, but they are very spiritual". This was before I started learning Japanese and we'll before I got a chance to spend time in Japan. Since my own religious/nonreligious identity is a big theme in my life in my family and in the US, what my uncle said back then was something I pondered for a long time, including when I went to Japan. So although you couldn't have intended it this weekend at, this well researched video was very personal, and provided me with a perspective I don't think I would have obtained for a long time. Thank you for all your hard work on this!
Great video Shogo! The last section that addresses the nuances of being "non-religious" in a monotheistic versus polytheistic society, gets at an idea that is critical to understand the Japanese worldview, but is something I often struggle to explain well. I will probably borrow some of these talking points!
It also kinda depends on what someone defines *as* a religion: Shogo's definition happens to be pretty specific.
@@OllamhDrab I think this is even more complicated by people like me considering religious as being some sort of zealot like ultra-orthodox jews or Salafi Muslim or evangelical Christians rather than some random believer in any religion and for those that don't believe in a specific god I think the term irreligious but I don't know if this is just me but this is how I see things about religion
@@abdiabdi3225 There's a lot of different notions of what really 'counts' as 'religious' out there, whether by what degree of piety, what type of religion, etc, ...for instance in Japan it seems like people can do lots of folk-religious activities while not counting themselves as 'religious,' whereas in America the same folks doing the same sorts of things or less might answer, "Sure, I'm kinda religious." I think in part it's so in Japan cause a lot of these practices are pretty seamless without having to make big professions of belief or suchlike, and there's fewer people out there tryign to 'convert nonbelievers' and all.
Maybe we could regard some Japanese people as "Spiritual But Not Religious", since they just practice the religious rituals as part of customs.
Spirituality does not mean being religious.
I think that description can work.
Wouldn't it be the opposite? Making them more "religious" instead of "spiritual" if they did rituals because of customs. After all, a custom is something you do out of tradition, and in the case of religion, not because you really belive it.
@@bbernie True l, but some of them (not explicitly mentioned on this video) even those who claimed to not follow a religion still believe in Spirits and divinity etc.
This is completely correct , many people assume one cannot be spiritual without religious practice , I’m glad you understand this !
@@bbernie thats a better description
Thank you for this thorough explanation of the belief systems in Japan. Although some channels give a superficial explanation of Shintoism and Buddhism, this is the first time I've seen it explained in such a way that makes everything make sense. It's a very well executed and informative video. ありがとうございます！😁
A lot is not above layman understanding, and some are fighting to remind them that Shinto and Buddhism was not separated until the Meiji era, but many still cling to a misguided mysticism. Not only that this video didn't include the influence from Taoism to the formulation of Shinto or Onmyodo.
You from Peut Rico ?...
I have talked about this topic with my Japanese penpal. And your explanation makes it even more clear for me.
So many thanks for sharing your wonderful knowledge with us. 🍻🤗
I have similar experiences talking about religion with my Japanese acquaintances. I wasn't able to fully grasp on how they talked about their beliefs, since I grew up believing that everyone has a religion (I grew out of that thinking now.). So they just said "Buddhist" instead, even if they may not be literal Buddhists. Even when I searched the internet about it, it still made things unclear to me. I'm really glad this video exists because it adds the context and summarizes everything on Japanese beliefs.
The Japanese are currently culturally spiritual and do many of those practices but see being overtly religious as a dangerous thing and avoid it. I think I got it. 🙇 Thanks for helping me get closer to an understanding.
They do the right thing in that point
What about Christianity I’m a Christian and it saddens me to see 1 percent of Japanese are Christians especially with Jesus returning soon and the end of the world.
@@BargerClan From your POV that is important but to help you understand:
Say Jesus is coming in one year (Bible says no one knows day or hour but let’s just say it). Then what would you think that Christian should do? Start screaming on the street? Telling people to take the religion? Pass a law? All those things disrupt society and that is a major issue to the Japanese and just the idea of that scares them because it has happened before with other religions causing war and disruption. So see that is a problem from the Japanese POV. The issue is clear if you look up the influence of religion in Japanese history (this even goes in a way up to WWII). And unless you understand this you can’t really understand what is really going on.
@@leodouskyron5671 The New Testament says that we will have Continent breaking earthquakes and since Japan is on the ring of fire fault line along with California those countries probably won’t exist in the book of revelations, and when Jesus comes back hell probably isn’t gonna be a fun place to spend eternity that’s why Japan needs Jesus
@@BargerClan You managed to not listen to a thing I said. You didn’t care. I had a long post to say but why explain? I am talking about a culture. There are other forums to talk about this In the way you seem want to. Just not here.
I think I sort of understand the first point when he said about the difference of the concept of religion in monotheistic belief vs polytheism. It's almost the same with how many people misunderstood the concept of Hinduism and (Indian) Buddhism.
They are not religion in the first place, they are Dharma. There's no direct translation of Dharma, it's like law, way of living, etc that exist as an eternal wisdom, yet existence of sacred text, codified beliefs, prophets; etc are not really the point of it. Dharma is Dharma, not a religion, and it's definitely hard to mold into the western concept of "religion".
Hinduism is full of porn
Sanatan Dharma= Eternal Duty.
The western idea of religion was an Invention by Western Academics 300 years ago to separate Religion from Culture. Literally everyone before these Academics saw religion as Part of Culture.
This explains why the West has such a different idea of Religion. Because they separated Religion from. CULTURE while everyone else saw Religion as part of Culture.
I absolutely LOVE the way Japanese handles religion/spirituality/ritual. Some of the most moving moments of my life were experiencing the rituals of Japan at shrines and temples, including Ise Jingu. It was one of the reasons I considered moving there (from the US).
And it should stay that way
i had recently learned about Buddhism and religion in Japan, but most of what you had said here was not taught to me, this honestly shows me how much information they leave out of history lessons, thank you for making these wonderful videos, they have taught me much more about Japan than my history lessons ever could.
great video. as an interesting note, here in brazil (a monotheistic-cultured country), when people say they are non-religious, it is not taken necessarily as agnoticism or atheism, but can be understood as non-confessional theism
More likely, disinterest in the subject.
Yup, same here in the USA, in fact someone saying they are “non-religious” usually means they are still theists but don’t follow a religion. For people to think you are atheist you would have to clearly state you are
Thank you for doing this video. I think for most Japanese this is absolutely correct. Although there are distinct minorities that anyone would consider religious, the vast majority would fall into this classification. Please note that Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu does not exactly have a "heaven" (tengoku), but a Pure Land (jodo). Also there are many buddhas (everyone has the ability to become a buddha). Too many people equate "Buddha" with "God".
Since you seem to know more about buddhism, my knowledge is a little limited but I always thought it's about reincarnation, wouldn't that contradict the belief of heaven since it stands for eternal afterlife, or does the main belief differ between the different teachings of buddhism
@@LaNoir.Buddhism is about enightenment, not reincarnation. The aim of Buddhism is to break the chain of rebirths in order to reach ultimate truth and realization; Nirvana
I feel I took one of the best classes I"ve taken. This was great and in depth 🙌 It put a lot of things in perspective. Im glad shinto and budhism are still alive today
Wow, this was a great video, Shogo! Such a complex subject spread across the whole of Japanese history, and you presented it all succinctly, with clarity and insight. I found this very illuminating and VERY enjoyable. This is one of your videos that I will certainly re-watch. Excellent work! Thank you for the time and effort that you and your wife put into these presentations.
That was absolutely fascinating, for years I couldn't wrap my head around Japanese relation to religion and you finally made me understand. Thank you!
You mentioned Christmas being religious, in many western nations it isn't truly seen as religious by all peoples. For me Christmas is a holiday used by companies to take money from people by selling them things and making everything money oriented
Because "gift-giving" is being abused.
@@kuyaroyroy3635 I will partially agree with you. It is abused because it has become "Mandatory" to give gifts to everyone in your family and close friends. It is why I say that it is a holiday used by companies. The term I had forgotten that fits is Commercialized. There are lots of Pagan roots to Christmas and even the "Reason for the season" as is said at times is forgotten because of the commercialization of the season
@@buellrichardson5222 Christmas is the celebration of the birth of christ. Yes we know he wasn't born on December 25th, but it is the days that it is observed
@@nichy7734 I will agree that it is when Christians observe the birth. Though do you know why they observe it not when he was actually born? I will tell you, it was a way to convert Pagans during the formation of the Catholic Church. Many of the traditions that are observed at Christmas Time are Pagan in origin. I have see way to many Christians make the claim that Christ was born on December 25th and they are adamant about that. They are also the ones who say there is a war on Christianity because people say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. Christmas as we know it is a commercialized day that has nothing to do with what many Christians say it does. There is no real observing the birth of someone who may or may not have lived so many years ago. There is no loving your neighbor because that is the Christian way. There is no being kind to a stranger because that is the Christian way. When Christians can stop accusing the world of making war on them and look at how they have made war on the world then I might be open to accepting that there are some who do actually celebrate Christmas for the reason you say.
@@buellrichardson5222 yeah...agree with you....they just sugarcoat Christmas day to convert the pagan....as that day also the birthday of the pagan god at that time
Oh my gosh this video was so informative and interesting. I am greatful for Shogo's explaination on this topic... I went to Japan 3 years ago and went to the Edo museum and got a tour (My Japanese tour guide was great). But Now this video explains SOO much more that I wanted to know. Also I am an anime lover so now I understand more about all these wars and periods that some anime are based on. It's so ironic that all these stategies to maintain power have resulted in the Japan I see today. There is no country without unification so I can see how the themes of Survival and Continuity are present. Shogo's explanation has me taking another look at everything I thought I understood in a new light
I'm happy you did take a trip to Japan, most people only relay on anime to say "This is Japan!"..... I always stop them and say "HOLD UP!.... have you went to Japan personality or even is it on your bucket list?" it stops them and think about it, I have a neighbor who have a bucket list to go to Japan for the first time and he is learning from me and my biological brother how Japan is. He gets both sides of the spectrum because I'm a royal myself, but me and some of my sibblings had been put threw being adopted or going threw military threw America. But I'm happy you went to Japan to understand a whole new meaning of the land, I bet you miss some dishes at Japan that you wish you can have now that's in anime right!?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m a Protestant Christian Believer. I find the story of religion in Japan very interesting. Thank you for sharing. I have many questions now.
The non-religiousness of Japan reminds me of Deism that we had in the west, believing in some version of God, but not in a religious way, and not holding to any particular belief. Nowadays we have a lot of people that believe God exists, but don’t really study religion, and so are “non-religious”.
I find religion very interesting, but I don’t get to talk to very many people about it, as it’s also somewhat taboo in the west too, along with politics
You again?
atheist is a total nonbelief supernatural and gods so japanese are not athiest but more deism and atheism
@@EnigmazGuide That's naturalism. Atheism is just nonbelief in gods.
Of course, there are lots of people who are both, but they are still distinct concepts.
Very well explained Shogo! Before I watched your video, the religious situation in Japan was confusing to me, but now I think I have gained a good understanding of the topic, thank you! ありがとうございます！
"I personally believe that every person on this planet has the right to believe in anything they want, but...I do not support any religion or belief that justifies violence and tries to destroy diversity." SAME, Shogo-san, SAME. There are millions of us that feel this way all over the world. Staunch religious beliefs that promote singularity are destructive. I love the original idea of shinto, before it was essentially exploited by the powers that be to subjugate the people. Worship nature! be thankful for the river that provides water to your village, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi keeping time and the days rolling on, it's all lovely and reverent of our environment. There is beauty in respect for the earth and all its inhabitants...Thank you for sharing this!
I love this!
Thank you for a nuanced and enlightening video.
It seems as though in an indirect, zigzag way, the Japanese worked out a working secularist culture in response to social pressures that would have otherwise forced people to consent to ideologies that were exploitative and oppressive. This is something to celebrate.
I actually see the Japanese culture as a religious one in its own way.
@David Lee Japanese still have strong animism mindset like they will avoid to rent house or apartement that stigmatized as haunted house because believe in yuurei. So, they are actually not as irreligious as westerners think.
its weird now that buddhism is no more a religion but a spiritual way of life and shintoism is followed overseas and have shinto priests who are not japanese by ethnicity and are distinctly religious by identity and serve that purpose.
This kind of thinking annoys me.
"Are you religious?"
"No"
"Yes you are"
@@Izzmonster- I am not sure but the original comment sounds as if the Japanese culture is a religion *IN ITSELF* . Which I would find abstruse.
@saymyname2417 To me it sounds like OP means the culture is very religious which is very true in a certain sense. The Japanese culture is absolutely stuffed with tradition, ceremony and superstition.
These are some of the most through videos I've ever watched! Thanks for this context!
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between fascism in Italy and Japan. Replace Shinto with ancient Rome, and the emperor with the duce and you obtain a very similar story. It's weird how fascism glorifies past traditions/myths, yet seeks to destroy and renew everything. It's contradictory in its nature.
This is one of those topics I’ve always wondered about but could never really find a solid answer for. I could’ve asked when I visited Japan, but it felt like one of those things I shouldn’t bring up. Thank you for this video! Very well done.
I had an interesting conversation about religion with my non-religious Japanese friend. I'm a Christian - Catholic, to be more precise. So even when I lived in Japan, I went to church every Sunday, sometimes more often, and that's how my friend noticed how relatively religious I was, and asked me about it. For some reason, she was really curious about what it's like to have a strong, genuine faith, so I tried my best to briefly explain my personal experience of Christianity. My friend is the example of a typical Japanese who respects the Shinto and Buddhism related traditions (we went to some shrines together, even tried omikuji) but without much faith in either belief system. It was good to be able to share such different views on religion and compare our cultures. Our conversation was peaceful, filled with pure curiosity, without accusing, judging or ridiculing each other - a proof that religion doesn't necessarily have to create conflicts.
However, Japanese people in the church I went to were very enthusiastic about their Christian faith. They also seemed to enjoy the community itself, and the charity work as well, which was super nice. But even being Catholics, they still respected and celebrated Japanese traditions. Forr instance, it was very interesting to see a Catholic version of Shichi Go San. The kids came to church wearing kimonos and were blessed by the priest, as they normally would in a shrine.
Very interesting. As for the community activity aspects of the church, I can imagine they like them much. I moved from Japan to USA some time ago, and the church community activities here always remind me of those of Cyounai-kai/Jichi-kai (町内会/自治会).
I am buddist from India, lot's of respect and love for Japanes culture. Namo buddha 🙏🏻🙇🏻.
Shogo, I really appreciate this video. You tackled a complex subject in a fair and balanced way. As a Western Soto Buddhist, I appreciated learning about the context of that philosophy in Japanese history from a Japanese person. I also appreciate the differentiation between being "non-religious" in a monotheistic vs. polytheistic culture. I think you nailed it on the head! And lastly, I've read the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, out of interest in Japanese history and culture; your analysis thereof, and contextualizing in response to the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, gave me new insights into these texts. I feel I am closer to understanding the "truth" about religion in Japan, its history, its problems, and its context. Thank you so much! Doumo arigatou gozamashita!
Very, very interesting, Shogo-san.
Cool video, but just a small clarification, most atheist today, including myself, do not make any claims on whether gods exist or not (I'm agnostic on this claim), but are simply not convinced of any god claim that we have encountered.
Try to read Quran just chapter 112 (Al-ikhlas). If it doesn't make sense about the concept of God as you think, so there's no way you find better concept.
@@kasihsaputra333
Okay, thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out : )
Now that I'm actually watching this channel, I'm actually getting interested in Japan and it's culture, great job man!
We actually have a some similar non-religious concepts in places with Christianity. In America we have disassociated several religious holidays from Christianity. Also have concepts like antitheism and agnosticism in addition to atheism. I think the main difference is that Japan vilified the religious and places with monotheistic religions vilified anyone not part of their religion, so the taboos were reversed.
Thank you so much for this video. I had no idea of the complex nature of religion in Japan. Thank you for explaining it so well.
This was really interesting. I recently watched a video on Shinto at the channel "Religion for Breakfast." Comparing the research of an outsider with a very western cultural experience, to the research of an actual Japanese person, was fascinating. Both very informative in different ways. Thank you.
Thank you Shogo so much for your videos! I'm learning more in hours than I could in years living in Japan.
Of course I still want to visit, a beautiful and honorable people.
Thank you for helping me be less confused about Buddhism in Japanese culture.
Hearing difference in Buddhism in different countries really intrigue me, politics really influence the teachings of Buddhism and how people practice it. Thank you for this gem of a video
Yea, it helps to not see Buddhism as a religion but instead a set of philosophies regarding what is the best way to live.
this was very informational! loved it! thank you 💛
I am loving this channel! I was always fascinated about Japanese culture! And now that I am finally learning a little bit about it, I am becoming even more passionate about it. Thank you, Shogo!
WOW! i was going to request a video about Shinto Religion i converted from Catholic to Shinto 4 years ago and my Life
Has Been Much more Productive!? i am very Lucky the City i live in has a Shofuso and A Shinto Shrine i am new & still learning about the Religion and grateful you made this video,Arigato!
I'm just so happy I've stumbled into this channel! Thank you so much for sharing with us! This is fascinating!
Forbid schools to teach Kojiki Is an absolute cruelty.
Why japanese people should ignore their own native spirituality?
Japan has done many mistakes for sure, but you don't have to be a nationalist or an extremist to appreciate the beauty of mithology.
I love this, watching stories and media from Japan has always been a bit confusing because this complex cultural relationship with belief, politics, and religions in Japan. As a pragmatic agnostic in the United States it can be hard to explain to people especially people of some faiths that I don’t see their faith as necessarily any more valid than any other even though in my family we celebrate Christmas and a few other holidays but not really in any sort of religious way like how you describe how most Japanese people view religion is not far from m own. I remember traveling to Thailand and seeing how Buddhism and their own culture, government, and royal family had their own story and history which was equally fascinating to my western eyes. Goodness what I would do to not have people ask my my religion or make assumptions that my non-belief equals that i am against them.
Japan is lucky it has not yet had to face the scourge of islam
Excellent commentary. Wonderful.
Thanks for another of your terrifically detailed videos on Japanese culture. I have the impression Japanese aren’t necessarily atheists but I think westerners may see it that way, as Japanese religious practices are not recognisable compared to the monotheistic traditions they are used to ( and especially compared to many Americans) have a much more laissez-faire approach to religion. Just on its own, Buddhism can be tricky categorise as a religion!! Add to the complexity that many Japanese practice aspects of mixed Shinto/Buddhist/confusionism I think most Japanese could be described as pantheistic rather than actual atheists.
The tale of the evolution of Japanese "religion" is fascinating. It reminds me of an evolutionary tree of certain species of animals.
I conclude that the "religion" of many a Japanese people is "Japanese customs and tradition".
why follow it if they arent religious?
@@kazumakiryuu2668 Religion is dependent on believe system and when two believes come in one place they make chaos but when cultures come together they make an new culture which is beauty of human nature 🙏
They are agnostics, not atheists...They either avoid talking about religion or studying about religion..
Japanese Christians even call themselves as "clandestine Christians" because of the Japanese society.
A certain Japanese family asked a Buddhist monk to conduct a funeral service for their parents...but it was just for their tradition. A few hours later, a Catholic priest conducted a funeral service for the family.
I guess, when you are in Japan, you must hold on to traditions and culture even if it is against to the teachings of the religion you are affiliated.
@ Therefore, they are agnostics (although not all)..not atheists
@@kuyaroyroy3635 kakure Christian no longer exist sry
Thank you for this. This explains soooo much. Especially the deifying of the emperor. This was a very educating video as it simplifies a complicated history of Japan. ありがとうございました
One of the best things about living in Japan is that religion is seen as a private matter and people don't really talk about it openly.
Great explainer, Shogo! This is great content! Very educational.
Thank you for the new video! However, I couldn't hear what you were saying at the end over the music. Listening very hard helped, but it also mad the music louder. For the next video, could you mix the music at the lower volume than the outro? The rest of the video was fine
Bro I really like your channel and your input about Japanese culture. I am not criticizing, just correcting....it's "gods and goddesses" not "gods and godnesses".
I wish that Korea had been able to resist Christian indoctrination like Japan did. Korea's already rich culture could have been so much richer if their homegrown religions and folklore had more time to develop and maybe become more mainstream. I feel like modern Koreans aren't able to really explore their cultural and religious roots before christianity came.
Nothing stopped them In Korean from doing that also Christianity is only 29% in korea many Koreans are going secular even more so then There traditional Belifes
1- you do realize they can still have their folklore right ?
2- pretty sure they still celebrate their cultural roots
@@el4276 yeah but I just wonder how much of it was forgotten or replaced
@@HumanoidMachine do have any evidence it was at all a great amount
(also regardless truth is more important than folklore)
@@el4276the influence of Muism seems a little more suppressed in Korean culture compared to shintoism in Japan. Which would make sense considering christianity has a history of just assimilating and subjugating shamanism as opposed to living in harmony with it which buddhism and shintoism seem to do
Great vid!! Very informative!
Thanks especially for the historical background. Convoluted, complex as things human are. Very well presented.
This was an excellent video; you are such a good teacher Shogo.
Your videos are excellent, Shogo. Thanks.
The way you explain it all,since the beginning,with all that information in short,it is very understandable!! Thank You so much for that specific explanation,I love the way your videos are.🥰
The more I watch, the more I learn what I should not have said to my Japanese friends...
This video was fantastic as always. The historical explanation of how things came to be is very intereting and important for understanding differences in belief practices.
Well done Shogo, that was a very good and concise summary on the how and why as well as explaining the viewpoint of Japanese people about religion. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
I'm Ex muslim from Indonesia. And I'm Gay. I love Japanese people. Their spirit is awesome
What is the meaning of a Ex Muslim?
@@VeryHungryEggshelleater
No longer a Muslim; maybe he’s deconverted to (a)gnostic atheism or Christianity
@@VeryHungryEggshelleater That they're not Muslim anymore.
@@VeryHungryEggshelleater I left islam and convert to Christianity. It's beautiful journey
@@aaadit4131 how can you be gay and Christian, do they accept you? Arn't you going to hell for being gay in Christianity?
Good video Shogo-San. Always good when you explain in a history perspective. Well. I don't have a religion, I believe in something, I'm far from be an atheist. Let's say... Japanese usually believe in something after death? That would solve a years old doubt for me. Thanks!
Love your videos, this may be unrelated, but what is your opinion of a video game called ghost of Tsushima?
I've watched so many of your videos and you feel familiar to me enough that it's difficult for me to remember that we've never met, you live in Japan and you really aren't just a buddy of mine who lives down the street in my hometown in the U.S.! :P Keep up the great work, Shogo-san!
The difference is clearly just a question of semantics.
Shinto practitioners clearly have animist beliefs in local spirits and they have very defined customs, principles and beliefs which are the marks of a religion, maybe not an organised religion but a religious system nonetheless.
Calling Shinto "not a religion", while clever, may cause many many problems in the future.
Especially since practicing a religion is protected by law but practicing a "proto-religion" like Shintoism is unregulated and can easily lead to discrimination to Shinto practioners and abuse from people who claim to be Shinto.
People who claim that it's not a REAL religion because they don't have gods and just do stuff because of custom forget that Hinduism is officially classified as a religion and they have major gods but also many, many lesser gods that are barely more than local spirits and they do most of the stuff by custom, which is what the majority of people both religious and non-religious do.
Finally, someone gets it!! The reason why people call Shinto as "not a religion" is outright in denial. They just don't want to associate Shintoism with the word religion
Thank you very much for this excellently structured video. It helps me a lot to understand an aspect of Japanese culture that has always been confusing to me as a person from a society strongly influenced by monotheism. The effort you have put into this explanation has lead to a really great result.
Kind of sounds like the Japanese tend to view religion in general as being like the Catholic Church at the height of its power. A lot of the negative views about religion seem to mirror the problems that separated Protestants from the Catholic church. Still, I can't help but feel it must be hard to be Christian in Japan to this day. One of the tenets is spreading God's word and helping others to find salvation, which goes hard against principles of not discussing religion. Makes more sense now though that the vast majority of anime/manga set up religions as villains.
It seems that they don't like organized and perhaps even centralized religion mostly out of fear, due to their past history and culture.
I'd argue though, that true Christianity would not be super hard against their culture- it actually resonates a lot with it. For those in the know, true Christianity is in essence not a religion- it's just most peoples' first contact with it, and it's how the outside secular world defines or views it. For those in the know, it's really about relationships- and much in the sense of how the Japanese would not call their practices of praying at the ancestor altar or saying "Itadakimasu" at mealtime as "religious".
What's hard is the spread of any organized religion- because it requires that the people become fanatical. That's what they are avoiding.
@@jephilologist I agree with the general idea, the modern average Japanese person is mostly apathetic to religion because they don't want anything extra to worry or any more effort in their lives.
However, please be mindful of how you describe Christianity. Organized Religions like Christianity don't require fanaticism to work, there is need for a dogma, rituals and faith, but fanatical followers only cause internal conflicts and separations and go against the core of religion itself unless you meant Radical sects and cults, but even so those are their own thing.
@@kristian64 yeah, this idea that institutionalized religion is inherently linked to fanatism is considerably arbitrary and prejudiced. I get that people think like that because throughout history religions either hold opressive power or were used as tools for maintenance of authority, but I think what modern society needs to acknowledge is that this is true to all ideologies and philosophies. I mean, kokka-shinto is a proof that even non-religion spirituality and "rational common sense" can be used as object of fanatism and tools for opression. I would dare to say that the gist of much of political discussions nowadays is straightfoward comparable to religious fanatism.
@@kristian64 Hmm. I might have overstated by using the term "fanatical". Apologies there. I meant something of a less dubious nature. Not really "fanaticism" in the extremist sense. So yes, I agree that Christianity does not need "fanaticism" to work. However, I still somewhat stand on my usage, since "fanatical" also means "a person who is extremely enthusiastic about and devoted to some interest or activity".
Perhaps they think that that is what the major religions entail if they are to be any serious about any of them. So to me, as you said, it seems plain that one reason why they avoid organized religion is their perceived requirements from it- they don't want more to worry about in their already swamped lives. Most seem to be content to partake in the "benefits" and fun without the responsibilities.
P.S. Wasn't really trying to describe Christianity using the word "fanatical" there. That was my word of choice to describe what I think is THEIR PERCEPTION of organized religions. Hope that's clearer.
Guys, religions isnt important for everybody. (no offense)
Wow! Your channel is gold. That was an amazing lesson. Arigato gozaimasu!
Well, a myth was certainly busted (that Shintoism was the first religion of Japan). From the perspective of a person raised as a Christian, I find kokka Shinto unusual. Shogo, you state that it was the cause of Japan becoming militaristic and created grounds for supremacist thought. Here, among monotheists, religion creates cause for war more directly.
While Imperial Japan never forced occupied people to convert to Shinto (as far as I know), Christian and Muslim powers frequently used the excuse that someone else is "an infidel" to start wars. Even in its darkest period, Japanese government actions weren't inspired by religion itself, but a desire to copy colonial powers.
Where I live, two varieties of Christianity fought each other, and fought Islam, too. It's like Sengoku Jidai, but with rigid religious beliefs killing any chance for peace. I have given up on monotheism myself, as the bad and good things happening in the world make me believe in multiple deities being behind everything. In fact, Shinto gave me a plausible "way out" of dogmatic Christianity.
BTW, your Canossa comparison is very good. The Pope was looking to rule over worldly matters, but he faced opposition from nobility who wanted to interfere with the Catholic Church, too.
Contrary to what Shogo says, shinto is from the very beginning associated with the formation of the ruling family of the Yamato family, i.e. the imperial family. Like every ruler at that time, they needed confirmation from heaven that they were the rightful rulers of the country and that was why the Shinto religion was formed (formalized). Contrary to what Shogo says, Buddhism is a way to enlighten the individual, it is a system of values, not a belief in a particular God, which contradicts the idea of one ruler.
Omg I've always wondered about this and never really sure how to approach this subject. Thank you so much for shedding light on this!
Buddhism isn't really a "religion". It has no deity. It's more of a Philosophy and practice of self exploration.
Finaly someone said it!
Some sects of bhuddism has it
Bhuddism is one of the paths of dharmic religon
Thanks much for this content. Japan has such a rich culture and history and it is definitely great to get all these nuggets about them. Thanks again.
I’m an atheist who celebrates Christmas….
I think the inability to understand comes from the inability to dissociate individual acts from a state of being? You don’t need to be religious or spiritual to enjoy going to a pretty temple. Like sometimes it’s just enjoyable to do things?
Also there’s a ton of westerners who can’t even comprehend not being religious so. I guess I’m saying the flaw is in the rigid thinking.
Besides, Christmas was never intended to be "Jesus' Birthday". It was taking a holiday already celebrated by another group in an attempt to say "we'll celebrate it too!" I learned this in Catholic school before I even turned ten. It's intended to be a winter feast so you can celebrate family members/friends and that you survived another year. It's an ancient holiday that should you choose to celebrate, you're doing as the ancient Romans did.
For the faithful... Jesus was said to be born in the summer/autumn so you're SOL guys. If you're looking for the real winter holiday that's the Twelfth Night. The Wise Men Show up late with Starbucks arguing over who decided to go above the gift limit and splurge on gold.
But then they can't sell the "reason for the season" bumper stickers.
@@jamie1602 actually that has pretty much been debunked many times over
I've been aware of Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan, but had never learned intensively of the history. This video did just that + cleared some of my remaining confusion. So thank you, Shogo-san.
It's always fun learning about Buddhism. Being a 3rd generation Buddhist in my family, I do enjoy learning more.
Wow i really liked this episode … thank you for explaining things. Now I know more. I usually never talk about this topic only when I’m asked because it’s I suppose kinda hard to explain my beliefs. I suppose. I believe in different things than most people do so sometimes when I try to explain it most people either don’t understand or get more interested in that topic. But I love that in people that everyone can believe or follow smth that they most excited or believe in. 💚 I accept everyone’s view of life or believes and so on. 💚
Excellent video; most informative with nuances in such a short time, one can watch at 1.25 or even 1.5 times normal speed. One can also see summary to get an idea.
Most atheists don't believe in spirits or spiritualism either but "atheism" refers strictly to the proposition that god(s) exist. Meaning, you can be an atheist & still believe in other supernatural stuff. 👻
That sounds contradictory
if spiritual creatures exist then God can also exist, so I don't see this logic?
Atheist are people who don't believe In spirits or god or any supernatural stuff
Agnostic are people who don't believe but are open to believe if you provide evidence notable agnostic Neil Degrasse Tyson
Then you got people who aren't religious but believe they're god and probably spirit
@@USSAnimeNCC- That is not how most people would define these terms. Agnostic/gnostic is a position about knowledge. Look at the etymology of the word agnostic (from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) 'without', and γνῶσις (gnōsis) 'knowledge'). Atheist/theist is a position about belief in a deity or multiple deities.
- Agnostic: you don't know if deities exist or not.
- Atheist: you don't believe that deities exist. That is, you reject the claim that "God(s) exist(s)". It doesn't say anything about your beliefs in other supernatural stuffs.
You can be an "agnostic atheist", meaning you don't know if deities exist but don't believe in these (most of the time because of a lack of evidence). Most atheists and theists will drop the term "agnostic" because for them we can't possibly know so it is redundant. Anyway, people may have different definitions so it is always best to ask them what they are.
@@dislike_button33 sounds that way but it's not. 🤷♂️
Great video man.
*Please adjust speed to 1.25x ~2x*
I don't think I will, your voice and method of speaking is so calming and enjoyable.
Thank you Shogo! This was a really good and easy to understand explanation on Japanese view and history of religion.
I live in a country where all the people always think and proud that they are the most religious people on earth and some of them always judge Japan as atheistic nation and will not having some good afterlife. But seeing many Japanese still praying on temples in rural area maybe may made them shut their mouth and stop for being overproud on their religion
Thanks for the clarification of the Japan's national religion. In fact, they had a national religion, Buddhism and Shintoism. Great history lesson, too.
Shogo: it's taboo to talk about religion, politics, and money in Japan.
Me: that's literally the top three things we Israelis talk about.
Very interesting, this video is so valuable, I never really understood the relation between Buddhism and Shintoism. Now at least I know the basics.
Having studied comparative religions for some years, I am baffeled at how short a time it takes you to explain one of the most complex aspects of any culture. Especially the short formula about the difference between monotheism and polytheism, I might borrow that, if you don't mind. ;o)
As if you are Reading my Mind. I was wondering about the Questions you talked about in this Video, like are Majority of Japanese People Religious or not, and how come that both Buddhism and Shintoism are important in Japan.
Thank you very much for your Great Video.
As someone who have been studying Japanese language and culture (including Japanese religion and faith), I think the first statement in the beginning of this video is the best short explanation.
Mr Shogo impresses me as a great liaison to understand Japanese culture. Having lived in the west, gives him a good point to view of various cultures. Keep up the good work, as its greatly appreciated.
Hi. I would like to say that i learned a lot about the history and culture of japan since i started watching anime when i was a kid and think to myself of what kind of life they japanese people have. 😊💕
Religion is trouble. Japanese and Scandinavians are mostly lucky to be mostly nonreligious. You see in those countries, after most people left religion they have less crime, more prosperous, more peaceful civil society, basically far from trouble.
But there are plenty of peaceful religions like "jainism" that also doesn't commit any crimes.
Just because japan, and other Scandinavian countries have low crime rates. That doesn't mean that irreligion plays a role in it. There could be a lot of factors on why they have low crime rates.
Irreligion doesn't correlate to peace.
Wow! The religious history of Japan is Truly fascinating! Thank you so much for all your hard work :)
This was very interesting, thank you.
This single video explained so much about how Japanese culture has adapted to be what it is today. Thank you, Shogo!
Very good video👍🏽