Many foreigners see Japan as country of Buddhism and Shintoism. Since my childhood, I visited so many temples and shrines. But many Japanese, including me, don’t know deep meaning of Buddhism and Shinto. And there are some sad reasons why Japanese are not interested in religion. One big reason is that till 1945, the end of the WW2, Japanese Emperor (Tennou) Hirohito had been the only God for all Japanese. This God and religion was made by Japanese government to control people and named State Shinto. Of course, actually Japanese government accepted other religion, such as Buddhism, Christianity and others. Because if Japan had forbidden other religions, then other countries that had treaty with Japan, such as Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy would have complained against it. But actually Japanese fascists such as General Tojo and Terauchi were not happy at all. They said always, “Real Japanese, especially Japanese soldiers, must believe in our Emperor as only one God. Our Emperor is a living holly God. Japanese should not believe in other Gods.” Then after Great Japanese Empire WW2, Japanese Emperor announced officially, “I’m not God anymore. I’ve already become one human being just like other Japanese.” But this announce was ordered by the GHQ (General Head Quarter) of the Allied Forces. Japanese politicians and ex-officers of army resisted, “The Emperor must remain as living God. He can’t become one human being so suddenly.” But GHQ didn’t accept Japanese demand. Now in Japan in public schools, teachers can’t teach the greatness of one religion, although officially Japanese are Buddhists and Shintoists. I suppose in Europe, there are classes to teach the Christian’s moral and lecture of the bible. But in Japanese schools there are no classes of religions. So many Japanese students graduate schools without knowing religions. And many Japanese visit temples and shrines without much knowledge of Buddhism and Shinto. On the other hands, some old Japanese still believe in the Emperor and his family as holly people. Some old people say even today, “All Japanese must take State Shinto as only one religion. This is the politeness and moral for the dead Japanese during WW2.” My dead grandparents believed till their death that The Emperor and his family are the most important for all Japanese. Their old mentality made me and other grandchildren sometimes very nervous. Of course, many Japanese including me are not Communists. So we buy and read books on religion. I know the history of some temples and shrines. This is the big difference between Japan and China. But in General, Japanese don’t talk about Buddhism and Shinto so often. Japanese Buddhism is called “the Buddhism only for funeral service”. Japanese bonze comes out before people, only at the time of funeral service and read Nenbutsu (just like bible for Christian). I know in Christian countries, there are still rituals of religion, such as Godfather, Baptism and Sage bread. But when I was a kid, I had only one ritual of Shinto called “Shichi-Go-San”, as far as I can remember. As my personal opinion, I ‘m interested in traditional temples and shrines. But I’m not interested in Japanese Emperor and his family. I know there is royal family also in Spain and Spanish royal family has good relation and friendship with Japanese Emperor and his family. Here are pictures of General MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito after WW2. They met for the first time in the American Embassy in Tokyo. And a groupe of Japanese soldiers visiting Yasukuni Shrine to wish the victory of Japanese Army.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 17:02:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015