 Religious
Development 1
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The oldest religion in Japan may well be the Folk Religion with its
own historic origins. Of course, Animism, Shamanism, Taoism, Hinduism,
Confucianism, Buddhism and even a little of the Iranian Solar worship
were obviously used to develop present day religions. In the process of
development, the new religions were changed to suit the people and the
purpose of the government.
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Buddhism came to Japan in the 6th century and it was changed too. Buddhism,
the most important cultural import into Japan, brought writing, reading,
architecture as well as the teachings of Buddha. Shintoism is credited
with being developed in the Nara and Heian Eras (710-1192) making it the
newest religion of all! It was changed regularly due to Folk Religion
and the many other religions in the country.
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The fact that Japan was an almost new society upon which to create a
special and specific set of morals for a nation to follow, helped it to
develop its own unique character and sense of values. This mixture of
different religions is really unique. Of course, most of these religious
elements came from China during the great Han cultural expansion, which
began around 200 B.C., and spread over most of the known Asian world---including
Japan.
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As always, we must look to China for cultural development. Written records
of China, dating back over 3600 years, are fantastic! The writings of
later years, that concern Japan, are most interesting ,too!
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