Religious Ideology in Japan

The Japan of today has many religious ideologies practiced in its borders. The main ones being the native Shintoism, Buddhism from across the sea and Christianity. Although there has been a rather large Christian influence in Japan, with some major holidays stemming from Christian roots, it was not always welcome in Japan. In the early 1600’s Japan banned Christianity and thousands of Japanese people were put to death for being Christian while Buddhism suffered much less harshly in Japan.

 The hollow Buddha statue in Kamakura.

 Taken from bestsingletravel. (Being inside it is so cool and there are some interesting things to see in the area around the statue.)

Originally the Christian missionaries and merchants were welcome in Japan and their ideologies were not persecuted. However as the missionaries started to feud with missionaries from other western countries  and as the shoguns were further lead to believe they were being set up to be taken down by the western countries, it was only a matter of time before the shogun decided to fix the problem. It is possible that the way in which the missionaries conveyed their messages about Christianity made the Japanese believe they were a threat though more likely it was just the fact their religion separated the people that made the Japanese reconsider letting them walk free on Japanese soil. From the perspectives of the Japanese shoguns this was turning into a major problem and weakening their country to outside influence.They solved their problem by banning Christianity and killing all who practiced while probably getting rid of the missionaries. It was about 250 years later that Christian missionaries were allowed to go to Japan and spread their beliefs. People didn’t necessarily convert but it was accepted and no longer persecuted. The number of Christians in Japan did go up again during this time.

Japan's oldest church in Nagasaki.Picture taken from bookhostelbook guide Nagasaki.

Buddhism had been in Japan for quite a long time by the time Christianity arrived. It was an ideology that was fairly easy to accept for the Japanese people. The nobles accepted Buddhist practices and many  of them chose to follow it. Over time various Buddhist temples were raised in Japan and many people followed Buddhism. In fact one of the most famous places in Japan is a hollow statue of Buddha that you can actually go inside and see. It wasn’t until the time of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi that Buddhism faced any real threats. These two great leaders of the Japanese Sengoku era were strong believers in Shintoism and did not want Buddhism to distract people from their Shinto beliefs. The result of this was a decline in Buddhist practices and temple building but now many Japanese consider themselves Buddhist. It’s quite common for Japanese people to Practice Shintoism in everyday life even if they consider themselves Buddhist. The most common time for Japanese people to practice Buddhist beliefs is funerals. Japanese people often have traditional Buddhist funerals and memorials.

Kiyomizu Dera a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Picture from khiart.com. (I highly suggest looking up pictures of this temple. Pictures aren't enough to truly capture how beautiful it is but they get close.)

Contrary to Christianity, Shinto and Buddhist beliefs and practices can co-exist as seen in Japan. Christian rules and beliefs are fairly strict in comparison and practitioners of Christian beliefs at the time seemed to have believed that all non-Christians would go to hell. However Buddhism and Shintoism have a very different take on this that allows people to practice both beliefs. Buddhism is all about finding inner peace and enlightenment which can be done without intruding on their Shinto beliefs. Some Buddhist and Shinto beliefs are very similar so to practice one isn’t disregarding the other.Their teachings are fairly peaceful making them pleasant to follow. 

Sensoji Shrine in Asakusa. Taken from dreamstime. (This place gets really busy but it is a really cool experience and there are tons of shops leading up to the shrine itself so you won't get bored.)

So by the time we reach the present day and age we see how these ideologies have been received in Japan. The Shinto beliefs originated in Japan and have been generally accepted, Christianity was not accepted very well since their ideologies clashed with the resident Shinto beliefs and Buddhism was well received most of the time. The 1600’s was a time where control was everything so any religion that wasn’t Shintoism suffered quite harshly but they still survived to this day in Japan. Christianity aside, Japan is a good example and perhaps one of the few examples of a place where two separate religions can practiced side by side without conflict by the same person. 

Picture of Kinkakuji in Kyoto. Taken from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Absolutely gorgeous. Definitely go see it if you get the chance. You're not allowed inside but the outside and the surrounding area is really breathtaking.)

(Fun Fact! Except for the Church I have been to all of the places seen in this post! Sadly I couldn't use my pictures because they are on my mother's computer.)

Information sources:
http://www.omf.org/omf/japan/about_japan/christianity_in_japan
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2298.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2055.html

The Battle of Thermopylae

Does anybody know about the Battle of Thermopylae? Yes? No? Well, I hope those who know will forgive me as I give those who don’t some information on it.

Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques Louis David, 1814

The Battle of Thermopylae happened in the year 480 B.C.; it was a clash between the allied forces of the Greek-city states led by King Leonidas of Sparta and the Persian army led by Xerxes I. It lasted for three days, but things took a turn for the worse on the second day when the Greek forces were betrayed by a man named Ephialtes, who led the enemy behind the Greek’s lines. It was the first battle out of three which would eventually end in a victory for the Greeks, although this particular battle would not end well for them. The size of both armies varies; for the Greeks, Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus have given numbers ranging from 5200 to 7400, although modern historians tend to add 1900 more people to Herodotus’s number, making both of them more or less equal. As for the Persian army, ancient historians claimed about a million people, but modern historians believe the numbers are more between 100,000 and 300,000, which is more believable considering all they had to do.

This was all about the technical side of things. But, if we were to look at the battle from another angle…

The Jupiter de Smyrne, discovered in Smyrna in 1680

The ancient Greeks practiced polytheism, which is the belief in multiple gods. Many of these were associated with certain aspects of nature (Zeus and lightning, Poseidon and earthquakes, and so on) while others were in charge of abstract notions, such as love (Aphrodite). They also believed in the Underworld, divided into sections which you were sent to depending on your behavior (neither good nor bad = Fields of Asphodel, great = Elysium, and bad = Tartarus).

As for the Persians, they practiced Zoroastrianism, based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster. It tells of how there is one universal god named Ahura Mazda, who created truth and order, which is the opposite of falsehood and disorder. The basic thing of it is that if you do good deeds it will help keep chaos at bay. Also, since Ahura Mazda is not manifested in the world, then what he has created is being continued through the Amesha Spentas, divine entities who carry out his will. I know there is more to both religion, but I wanted to keep it simple.   

According to Will Straw, an ideology is a value or a belief system that is accepted as either fact or truth by some group. So, if we go by this definition, then we can definitely count religion as being an ideology. Then, if we follow this train of thought, could we not say the battle was also a clash of ideologies? The Greeks have their multiple gods; the Persians have their single universal one who has his work carried on by other divinities. So, when the two sides clashed, and the Greeks lost, history has it was because they were betrayed. But when you count in the gods, who were involved, could it be the Greeks lost because the gods turned on them, or simply because they did not give enough care when it came to making the sacrifices in order to gain their favor? It is a mystery that probably will never be solved. As for me, I would rather believe in multiple gods. When you are a child, and even while you are growing into an adult, you are taught teamwork, to share duties, which is something polytheistic religions do. One person doing everything on their own does not really agree with me. But then, this is my opinion. Everyone has the right to their own, as long as they respect those of others.