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Japan Religious Practice
Most Japanese participate in rituals and customs
derived from
several religious traditions (see
table 3, Appendix). Life
cycle
events are often marked by visits to a Shinto shrine. The
birth of
a new baby is celebrated with a formal shrine visit at the
age of
about one month, as are the third, fifth, and seventh
birthdays and
the official beginning of adulthood at age twenty. Wedding
ceremonies are often performed by Shinto priests, but
Christian
weddings are also popular. In the early 1980s, more than 8
percent
of weddings were held in a shrine or temple, and nearly 4
percent
were held in a church. The most popular place for a
wedding
ceremony--chosen by 41 percent--was a wedding hall.
Funerals are most often performed by Buddhist priests,
and
Buddhist rites are also common on death day anniversaries
of
deceased family members. Some Japanese do not perform
ancestral
ceremonies at all, and some do so rather mechanically and
awkwardly. But there have also been changes in these
practices,
such as more personal and private ceremonies and women
honoring
their own as well as their husband's ancestors, that make
them more
meaningful to contemporary participants.
There are two categories of holidays in Japan:
matsuri
(festivals), which are largely of Shinto origin and relate
to the
cultivation of rice and the spiritual well-being of the
community,
and nencho gyo (annual events), mainly of Chinese
or
Buddhist origin. The matsuri were supplemented
during the
Heian period with more festivals added and were organized
into a
formal calendar. In addition to the complementary nature
of the
different holidays, there were later accretions during the
feudal
period. Very few matsuri or nencho gyo are
national
holidays, but they are included in the national calendar
of annual
events (see
table 4, Appendix).
Most holidays are secular in nature, but the two most
significant for the majority of Japanese--New Year's Day
for Shinto
believers and Obon (also call Bon Festival) for Buddhists,
which
marks the end of the ancestors' annual visit to their
earthly home-
-involve visits to Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples. The
New
Year's holiday (January 1-3) is marked by the practice of
numerous
customs and the consumption of special foods. These
customs include
time for getting together with family and friends, for
special
television programming, and for visiting Shinto shrines to
pray for
family blessings in the coming year. Dressing in a kimono,
hanging
out special decorations, eating noodles on New Year's Eve
to show
continuity into the new year, and playing a poetry card
game are
among the more "traditional" practices. During Obon
season, in midAugust (or mid-July depending on the locale), bon
(spirit
altars) are set up in front of Buddhist family altars,
which, along
with ancestral graves, are cleaned in anticipation of the
return of
the spirits. As with the New Year's holiday, people living
away
from their family homes return for visits with relatives.
Celebrations include folk dancing and prayers at the
Buddhist
temple as well as family rituals in the home.
Many Japanese also participate, at least as spectators,
in one
of the many local matsuri celebrated throughout the
country.
Matsuri may be sponsored by schools, towns, or
other groups
but are most often associated with Shinto shrines. As
religious
festivals, these strike a Western observer as quite
commercialized
and secular, but the many who plan the events, cook
special foods,
or carry the floats on their shoulders find renewal of
self and of
community through participation.
Data as of January 1994
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