Most Iranian and Iraqis that used to live in Japan - in the public parks, mostly - no longer live here. They’ve been deported. Some remain, though, mostly those who married Japanese nations and had children.

Still, there is a lot of not-so-subtle anti-Middle Eastern sentiment in Japan. Many people would justify it by pointing out the high crime amongst Middle Easterners who lived in Japan.

That is, still, the essence of racism. To stereotype a group by according to the actions of a number of its members is the epitome of ignorance.

With that in mind, I present you with this opinion on religious atrocities.

Hat tip.

Most Japanese people would self identify as either agnostic or Buddhist. Now, of course the majority of those who would self identify as Buddhist simply mean, “my family is Buddhist so I am Buddhist”, not like they really gave it thought or adhere to the tenets of Buddhism.

The agnostics, however, are in for a shock. Most Japanese, when asked if they believe in God, will say “Wakaranai” (I don’t know). It’s the agnostic position, they don’t know and don’t believe it ca be known.

Recent events change that, however. You are now no longer agnostic, but atheist.

The gods of atheism have decided that, since you are not theist, are are atheist.

Yeah, I know, it sucks, but you’ll get used to it.

Since Japanese animation and movies have become so popular, it seems like the Japanese language has been one of the most popular languages to learn in other countries in recent years. In Japanese, we have three different kinds of alphabets. They are called kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Even though this may sound complicated, it is actually very simple and once you’ve learned it, it’s not hard at all.

Kanji are characters borrowed from China a long time ago. Each of them has its own meaning and many of them are based on the shapes of the meanings. Also, they are read in two ways: on-yomi and kun-yomi. On-yomi is based on how they were pronounced in Chinese and kun-yomi is based on the meanings of the Japanese language. We start practicing how to write the basic kanji at elementary school when we are about 7 years old. It’s been said that we have about 50,000 kanji but we only use 1,945 of them in our daily lives which we learn by the time we graduate from junior high. (No one actually cares…)

So, could we write everything in kanji?? If so, it takes a lot of time, doesn’t it? Good question! The answer is “No.” That’s why we have hiragana and katakana also. (Personally, I have no idea how Chinese language works by writting everything in kanji.)

Both hiragana and katakana were originally created in Japan after kanji were brought to Japan from China. Hiragana are formed by simplifying the shapes of kanji and katakana are formed from one part of a kanji. Now, let me explain how they are used:

- Any essential parts in the sentences such as nouns, verbs, adjective, adverb etc

- Japanese names

- Ancillary words (particles, auxiliary verbs, prefixes, suffixes etc.)
- Endings of verbs and adjectives (that we call "okurigana")
- Japanese words that have no kanji and whose kanji are hard to write/read

- Japanese words that the readers are unlikely to know them

- Foreign words and names (mostly)
- Echo-words
- Imitative words
- Commonly used animals, plants and objects

The formation of kanji:

The kanji is formed by combining two or three simple kanji:

Amazing, aren’t they? This shows how ancient people had a lot of imagination to create a langauge as beautiful and interesting as the Japanese language.

Most people have at least heard of the word Shinto, but as to what it actually is, and it’s relation to Japanese Buddhism, most people are in the dark. Well, here is an attempt to shed some light on how these two religions co-exist in Japan.

Shinto

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. It is an animistic religion, meaning that rather than espousing belief in a single creator God, it posits that all elements of nature are actually gods themselves, known as kami. Thus trees, islands, animals, rivers, etc. are all considered sacred by the Shinto religion. Shinto shrines known as jinja found all over Japan and are considered the abodes of local kami.

Buddhism

Buddhism began around 2500 years ago in India. It quickly spread throughout India then on to China where it merged with Taoism and was transformed into what then became known as Ch’en Buddhism. In this form it spread down through the Korean Peninsula and by that route on to Japan. In it’s original form it spread south into Thailand, and throughout South-east Asia. Thus there are two main divisions, the one that made it’s way though China is referred to as Mahayana, and the one that spread south is called Theraveda. The differences between these two are a bit beyond the scope of this article. In any case, the Mahayana version of Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th Century.

Syncretism

Syncretism is when multiple religions are combined to form new ones. The arrival of Buddhism didn’t cause much of a stir with the common folk as the new religion was mainly studied and practiced by the aristocratic class. Now, one might think that the arrival of a new religion would result in clashes of belief leading to conflict such as that between Islam and Christianity. The great difference here is that both Shino and Buddhism are not religions of the book. There are no proscribed rules that must be followed, thus no conflict between them. In reality the two religions merged quite harmoniously with Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples often sharing the same grounds. As Japanese Buddhism matured it gradually gained acceptance by the common people. Nowadays there are a variety of Buddhist systems in Japan including the Pure Land Sect, Sokka Gakkai, Zen, Nichiren, etc.

Religious Practice in Japan Today

There is a saying in Japan that people here are born Shinto and die Buddhist. That doesn’t mean that they convert their beliefs on their deathbed, but that baptismal ceremonies are usually held at the Shinto shrine and funerals at the Buddhist temple. The reason Japanese people don’t see any conflict in this is that neither religion requires deep belief or faith in the manner we are used to in the west. Can you imagine Muslims and Christians attending the same buildings of worship depending on which holiday it is? The two religions are not mutually exclusive. This idea causes perplexity within people of the religions of the book, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. For they believe there is only one true religion (unfortunately they don’t believe it is the same one!). For this reason the Japanese belief system is very hard to understand for those outside of Japanese culture.

If you’d like to learn more about religious belief and practice in Japan, wikipedia is always a good place to start. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan

If a person spends a few months in Japan one is bound to observe a few Japanese matsuri or festivals. These are usually held on the grounds of local Shinto shrines known as jinja. They are, for the most part, held to celebrate the changes of the seasons. A visitor to a local matsuri will find numerous food-stalls selling favorite foods such as takoyaki (friend octopus balls), yakisoba (friend noodles) and oddly enough bananas dipped in chocolate on a stick (somehow I think this is a more recent addition to the menu!). There are also many game stalls where people try to win prizes, much like the traditional carnival or state fair. Some uniquely Japanese games are trying to catch goldfish or baby turtles with a paper net before it dissolves in the water, and shooting cork guns at playstation boxes in attempts to knock them over.

The highlight of most festivals is the parade of the mikoshi, or portable shrine as it has often been translated. This is a spectacle not to be missed. Groups of people dress in traditional shirts and sumo style pants carry the mikoshi or rather pump it up and down while marching up the street chanting yoi sah yoi sah! Which was translated to me as “Come on, come on!” The shrine is then carried throughout the neighborhoods surrounding the shrine, sometimes for hours. There are many variations on this. The craziest one I have heard of is in Osaka, where a huge mikoshi, literally the size of a small house, is pulled at full speed on wheels throughout the city. During the process the pullers are thrown into houses, crowds and anything else that happens to be in the way. After this event the local hospitals are filled with people who’ve sustained minor injuries. Most festivals however are less life-threatening so don’t be afraid to observe, or even take part as carrying of the mikoshi is open to anyone strong enough to endure it.

Some of the more unique festivals held throughout Japan are the aforementioned crazy house-sized smashing up Osaka festival, the purpose of which I have no idea. The penis festival, held to promote fertility, at which penis and vagina shaped candies are given out to adults and children alike. The fire festivals in which huge bonfires are created in the streets of Kyoto, and there is even apparently a naked festival. I have yet to see this one but will make an effort to do so!

Anyway, no matter what kind of festival it is, matsuri are great places to experience a taste of the old Japan, eat some great food, and see normally reserved Japanese men and women let loose and have some crazy fun.