Organized religion not the only aspect of Japanese spirituality

Religious beliefs appear to be on the decline in Japan over the past two decades, particularly among males. That was among the topics covered by Shukan Gendai (Oct 26-Nov 2) in a wide-ranging 17-page, 4-part section titled "Religion and the Japanese People."

To track the changes taking place, the magazine compared responses to a once-a-decade survey on religion conducted by NHK's Broadcast Culture Research Institute. The survey taken in 2018 was compared with a previous one in 1998.

When asked, "Do you have any faith?" in 1998, the subjects who replied "not much/almost none" and "none at all" combined to total 45%. Two decades later this figure had risen seven points to 51%, with the percentage of males who replied none at all roughly doubling. Belief in karmic justice declined overall, with those agreeing that "If people do bad things, they will certainly face retribution" dropping from 74% to 62%. The decline was most significant among people age 70 years and over, going from 84% in 1998 to 57% in 2018.

The breakdown of self-professed religious affiliation was given as Buddhism, 31%; Shinto, 3%; Christianity, 1%; no preference, 62%; and other or no reply, 3%. These figures have not changed appreciably over the past 20 years, although a slight decline was noted in the percentage of those holding religious beliefs. Even among these individuals, however, the frequency in which they engage in religious activities showed continued decline, with 45% rising to 48% for "just a few times a year" and 16% rising to 21% who stated "practically never."

Interestingly, people who state they feel a sense of familiarity with Shinto, along with those who obtain such items as omikuji (paper fortune-telling slips) or protective talismans have increased.

While a majority of Japanese may profess to belong to no religion, they may nevertheless be unknowingly engaging in "religious-like" activities, not necessarily involving fortune-telling and spiritualism. Akie Iriyama, professor at the Waseda University Business School, said, "Actually in recent years, some corporations have gradually taken on religious-like trappings.

"In the past, companies did not place so much importance on things like a corporate 'vision' or 'aims,' As long as the economy kept growing, excellent workers stayed at their jobs and enjoyed the trappings of lifetime employment. And if you made endeavors at work, you would realize something in return.

"In the midst of economic decline, however, there was no guarantee of results even when you gave your best efforts, and even the job itself was no longer secure. This presented a problem; without some sort of sense of job satisfaction, employees or staff would not work effectively.

"So now management is setting objectives to involve more abstract things like 'to develop the world' or 'to attract new fans.' In the world of business, we can say that management and religion have been moving closer together."

Naming one example, since Akio Toyoda became president of Toyota Motor Co. in 2009, the company has adopted a strong top-down system that adopted the grandiose slogan of "make Japan healthy."

Iriyama sees the Toyota organization as resembling that of the Roman Catholic church, with the pope at its apex.

Defying the trends towards declining interest in religious beliefs, writes author-journalist Ryoko Yamaguchi, is a "prayer boom" that's been taking hold among more young women. These supiri-kei (spiritualty-inclined) females have been flocking to remote places like the Kenmi Shrine in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture.

"The shrine is reputed to be a type of 'power spot,' where an inugami (dog god) possesses people, who develop high body temperatures and howl like dogs," says Kazutaka Minatogawa, a shrine official. "During prayers, some people run amok, wailing and dashing off."

Despite its relative isolation, annual visitors to the shrine are up by over 50%, to 30,000. With the exception of during the new year, 90% come to take part in prayers. Many appear to be women in their 20s and 30s who are described as "confused."

"There's a trend to return to Japan's traditional type of prayers, to which people tend to gravitate after first starting with fortune-telling, then moving to Tarot and the Western-style Zodiac," A spiritualist named Byakko Hatano tells Yamaguchi. "When they tire or become dissatisfied with these, they take up prayers."

Shukan Gendai's fourth and final section devotes three pages to a dialog between Makoto Osawa, a sociologist, and Shaku Tesshu, a religious scholar and resident priest at the Nyoraiji temple, who has authored or co-authored more than 30 books.

The two are asked to air their views on a question that is certainly not confined to Japan: "When religious traditions have been lost, to where will the 'meaning of life' go?"

The two were in general agreement that old myths and beliefs will not completely die out, but rather be incorporated into modern-day subcultures.

"Japan has numerous types of religious resources," observes Shaku, "For example, take the henro pilgrimage (to 88 temples around Shikoku), which is unique, even in worldwide terms. Just as a doctor feels a patient's pulse to check their condition, when you ask a henro pilgrim about what motivated them, you can obtain a realistic sense of people's concerns and sufferings that reflect the times in which they live.

"For instance, these days we see more people worried about things like 'silver' divorce and post-retirement economic concerns.

"Times may change, but the role of religion does not," Shaku asserted.

© Japan Today