Religion in Japan: Shinto, Buddhism and beyond
Most Japanese people take part in both Shinto and Buddhist practice without seeing a contradiction. Shrines mark births and festivals, temples funerals and ancestors — and mountains, rocks and trees can all be sacred.
ShintoShintōThe way of the kami: shrines, purity and the rhythm of the seasonsBuddhism in JapanBukkyōFourteen centuries of temples, schools and ancestral ritesZen BuddhismZenSeated meditation, sudden insight and a lasting mark on Japanese artsShugendoShugendōThe way of acquiring power through austerity in the sacred mountainsYokaiyōkaiKappa, tengu and haunted umbrellas: the uncanny side of Japanese folk belief