Japan VALUES AND BELIEFS
Practitioners of kendo--the "way of the sword"--
a form of spiritual discipline combined with ancient Chinese
fencing techniques
Courtesy Eliot Frankeberger
People and goods being ferried from Nagasaki
Courtesy The Mainichi Newspapers
The 160-meter-high torii gate at Itsukushima
Shrine, in Hiroshima Bay, dedicated to Shinto kami, who
protect seafarers and oversee fishing
Courtesy Jane T. Griffin
Buddhist monk
Courtesy Sheila Page Gault
Buddhist nun
Courtesy Kelsey Saint
Shinto presentation ceremony for girls ages seven and
five
Courtesy Sheila Page Gault
Contemporary Japan is a secular society. Creating
harmonious
relations with others through reciprocity and the
fulfillment of
social obligations is more significant for most Japanese
than an
individual's relationship to a transcendent God. Harmony,
order,
and self-development are three of the most important
values that
underlie Japanese social interaction. Basic ideas about
self and
the nature of human society are drawn from several
religious and
philosophical traditions. Religious practice, too,
emphasizes the
maintenance of harmonious relations with others (both
spiritual
beings and other humans) and the fulfillment of social
obligations
as a member of a family and a community.
Data as of January 1994
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