- 24 May 2004
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I was wondering about religion in japan. What is most of the religion of people on streets of tokyo? Do they worship christianity?
Are there such things as Christian Japanese?
- Thread starter GoldCoinLover
- Start date
Index
窶禿塒弯
- 26 Feb 2005
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Nobunaga Oda was a famous Japanese chrisitian.
- 18 Jan 2005
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lexico
後輩
- 22 Dec 2004
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One memorable Japanese Christian is
Chiune Sugihara, who is also Greek Orthodox Christian. He studies Russian in Haerbin, and later works for the Foreign Ministry of Japan. In 1939 he and his wife, Yukiko, together with their children, go to Kaunas, Lithuania, to open up a consular office there. That year, Hitler's Germany invades Poland, and soon many Polish Jews flood in to Lithuania. They learn that the Dutch colonies of Caribbean Curacao and Suriname offer quick, easy entry but they still need to pass thru Soviet Russia & Japan for the trip. In the face of refusal to give visas to the Jewish refugees by the Japanese Government, he goes ahead to issue 6,000 transit visas. Despite his disloyalty to the Japanese government, he stays on until the end of the war, and gets dimissed in 1945. This is one Japanese Christian that I admire. Some say he did it because of his samurai family tradition of helping others, some say it was because he was Christian. I really don't care; but that he did the right thing altough it made his life difficult. And I respect that.
Chiune Sugihara, who is also Greek Orthodox Christian. He studies Russian in Haerbin, and later works for the Foreign Ministry of Japan. In 1939 he and his wife, Yukiko, together with their children, go to Kaunas, Lithuania, to open up a consular office there. That year, Hitler's Germany invades Poland, and soon many Polish Jews flood in to Lithuania. They learn that the Dutch colonies of Caribbean Curacao and Suriname offer quick, easy entry but they still need to pass thru Soviet Russia & Japan for the trip. In the face of refusal to give visas to the Jewish refugees by the Japanese Government, he goes ahead to issue 6,000 transit visas. Despite his disloyalty to the Japanese government, he stays on until the end of the war, and gets dimissed in 1945. This is one Japanese Christian that I admire. Some say he did it because of his samurai family tradition of helping others, some say it was because he was Christian. I really don't care; but that he did the right thing altough it made his life difficult. And I respect that.
Wow, lexico-san! Very interesting! (You get a rep point. 
)
Even if Nobunaga was a Christian, he must have not paid attention to the Ten Commandments very well. He was one of the most brutal Japanese leaders of all time.
He also razed Buddhist temples of renegade monks, so he must not be a very serious Buddhist either.
Most people in Tokyo (and in Japan, for that matter) are of the Buddhist (Nishi Hongwanji-ha form of the Jodo Shinshu sect) and Shinto (Izu Shrine Shinto and Folk Shinto) religions. Nonetheless, as others mentioned above, most Japanese tend to not speak of religion too much. Only 1% of Japan is Christian. The other 15% are either Shinto or Buddhist or Muslim.
)Even if Nobunaga was a Christian, he must have not paid attention to the Ten Commandments very well. He was one of the most brutal Japanese leaders of all time.
He also razed Buddhist temples of renegade monks, so he must not be a very serious Buddhist either. Most people in Tokyo (and in Japan, for that matter) are of the Buddhist (Nishi Hongwanji-ha form of the Jodo Shinshu sect) and Shinto (Izu Shrine Shinto and Folk Shinto) religions. Nonetheless, as others mentioned above, most Japanese tend to not speak of religion too much. Only 1% of Japan is Christian. The other 15% are either Shinto or Buddhist or Muslim.
- 24 May 2004
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- Thread starter
- #10
Hiroshi66 said:Wow, lexico-san! Very interesting! (You get a rep point.
Even if Nobunaga was a Christian, he must have not paid attention to the Ten Commandments very well. He was one of the most brutal Japanese leaders of all time.
Most people in Tokyo (and in Japan, for that matter) are of the Buddhist (Nishi Hongwanji-ha form of the Jodo Shinshu sect) and Shinto (Izu Shrine Shinto and Folk Shinto) religions. Nonetheless, as others mentioned above, most Japanese tend to not speak of religion too much. Only 1% of Japan is Christian. The other 15% are either Shinto or Buddhist or Muslim.
Thank you. I didn't know japanese didn't like to talk about their religion. I guess its part of japanese cultulre, among other things, like japanese don't like to kiss in public. I hope to travel to tokyo, when I do I won't mention religion.
What religion is shinto ? Is it related to buddhist? I'm curious to find more about the religion.
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
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You can read about it in brief here:GoldCoinLover said:
https://jref.com/culture/japanese_temples_shrines.shtml
The Japanese like to think theirs is a secular society but still have religious ceremonies for important events in life--mostly Shinto or Buddhist, but many Japanese go for "Christian" weddings.
ralian
長靴をはいた猫やねん
- 1 Sep 2003
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Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions, and less than 3% of the population are Christians.
Shinto: 102,213,787
Buddhism: 91,583,843
Christian: 3,168,596
Others: 10,792,548
Source: Agency for Cultural Affairs, December 31, 1996
However, religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today.
Shinto: 102,213,787
Buddhism: 91,583,843
Christian: 3,168,596
Others: 10,792,548
Source: Agency for Cultural Affairs, December 31, 1996
However, religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today.
ralian
長靴をはいた猫やねん
- 1 Sep 2003
- 540
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Did you know that there were 26 martyrs in Japan?
You can read the story here:
http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/26martyr.htm
The government wanted to hold absolute control over people, they banned Christianity. Consequently, it led to its extinction by 1638.
After Meiji restoration in 1873, freedom of religion was promulgated, and Japanese Christians started slowly increasing again.
Very slowlyﾂ…
You can read the story here:
http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/26martyr.htm
The government wanted to hold absolute control over people, they banned Christianity. Consequently, it led to its extinction by 1638.
After Meiji restoration in 1873, freedom of religion was promulgated, and Japanese Christians started slowly increasing again.
Very slowlyﾂ…
jieshi
Japaustralian
- 5 May 2004
- 554
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ralian said:Did you know that there were 26 martyrs in Japan?
You can read the story here:
http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/26martyr.htm
The government wanted to hold absolute control over people, they banned Christianity. Consequently, it led to its extinction by 1638.
After Meiji restoration in 1873, freedom of religion was promulgated, and Japanese Christians started slowly increasing again.
Very slowlyﾂ…
Lord Omura was a famous christian diamyo. He was the first christian Diamyo, obviously they couldn't matyr him as well so they forced him to resign from his position as Daimyo of Nagasaki, to a cottage in his home town (Omura) and he was kept under house arrest until he died I think.
They also found that once freedom of religion was brought back in all of a sudden 1000's of Japanese claimed to be christian and said they had been secretly practicing for the 300 years it was ban. The Japanese government didn't like the idea of these communities so they actually started splitting them up and exiling them to different parts of Japan where they wouldn7t be surrounded by other fellow christians.
Tsuyoiko
DON'T PANIC!
- 11 Mar 2005
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mikecash said:
I have read his novel 'Silence'. I enjoyed it, because it looked into the difficulty of reconciling being Japanese with being Christian (specifically Catholic) - how the two often seem contradictory. The ending was good, but I won't give it away, 'cos anyone interested in this topic should read it.
- 21 May 2003
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I Remember.......
seeing a lot of churches in Nagasaki, most or all were built by foreigners I believe. They all seemed empty and unused?
Frank
☝
seeing a lot of churches in Nagasaki, most or all were built by foreigners I believe. They all seemed empty and unused?
Frank
☝
kirei_na_me
Where I'm Supposed to Be
- 31 Jan 2003
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OT alert!
If you like Shusaku Endo, you should read Scandal. That is a heck of a book.
If you like Shusaku Endo, you should read Scandal. That is a heck of a book.
Kinsao
Horizon Rider
- 8 May 2005
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Tsuyoiko said:I have read his novel 'Silence'. I enjoyed it, because it looked into the difficulty of reconciling being Japanese with being Christian (specifically Catholic) - how the two often seem contradictory. The ending was good, but I won't give it away, 'cos anyone interested in this topic should read it.
How difficult is it to find Catholic churches in Japan? (I'm thinking of the major cities, not rural areas.) I had imagined quite difficult as Christianity is not a big religion there... but I might be wrong. Does anyone know?
ralian
長靴をはいた猫やねん
- 1 Sep 2003
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kinsao said:
You can find a list of Catholic church in Japan here:
http://www.catholic.jp/diocese.htm
