Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Japanese culture and religion
Japanese religion and culture
Religion in Japanese culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Japanese culture and religion
As the East Asian culture originated thousands of years ago, it still continues to thrive today and has expanded to many countries around the world. Through their mythology, religion, symbolism, and culture that has become quite popular, all of these aspects have influenced many other cultures as parts of East Asian society have been taken and transformed. However, East Asian societies are starting to dwindle as they are being taken over by other expansionists. As a result of the diminishing parts of East Asian society, other cultures must adapt part of East Asian society so that it may never die and continue to stay a part of human life on earth. An important aspect of the Japanese culture was their belief system, which consisted of Buddhism …show more content…
One of the most common examples is the dragon turtle. The dragon turtle is an essential creature in Chinese mythology which combines two of the four celestial animals with the body of a turtle and the head and tail of a dragon. It symbolizes courage, power, and success. The black tortoise of the north and the azure dragon of the east combine together to make this creature of the sea. The tortoise and dragon are also symbols for winter and spring similarly as in the natural world spring follows winter. The changing of the seasons from winter to spring is represented by the dragon turtle. The dragon turtle is interpreted through modern culture through the famous Mario Bros franchise as Bowser; Mario and Luigi's evil nemesis. In the board game, dungeons and dragons, the dragon turtle is a monstrous sea creature that attacks sailers. In the online game, World of Warcraft, you can ride a dragon turtle to transport yourself to different places. Also in Chinese tradition, they tell stories of Mogwai, who are deceased humans who have come back from the spirit world as these creatures so seek revenge. They are most likely to be around during the rainy season because the rain gives them good cover to come out of hiding. In modern culture they are shown through the popular movie, Gremlins. There is also a Scottish rock band that named themselves after the mythological stories of
Buddhism and Confucianism are important features of Chinese culture. On that time Vietnam and Japan were influence by China’s Buddhism beliefs. Japan elites completely taking Buddhism but lower classes fuse Buddhism and Shinto. Japanese not only influenced Buddhism by Chinese but also Daoism, Confucianism and especially for the aristocracy and Buddhism monks too. Japanese sent monk scholars to learn Chinese practices. But then Buddhist monks had too much power and after that they were trying to gain control of government. This shows that Buddhism played a really big key role in spreading and transmitting Chinese culture to other countries outside. Also when Vietnam got influenced by Chinese, it had a really big effect until now because most of Vietnamese are Buddhist. Women in Vietnam held high in Buddhism. Also for Confucian in Vietnam, the benefit of that was it inspired administration. Vietnamese even more attached to Buddhism than Chinese after the influence. Both of them are really similar because of the influence of Chinese cultural brought Buddhism and Buddhism had a really big power to their
Reid, who knows Japanese and has studied things Asian for many years, lived in a Japanese community, sent his children to an excellent Japanese public school and learned to put up cheerfully with his Japanese neighbors' codified concerns. ''The Japanese,'' he happily notes, ''are people who love rules.'' Written with grace, knowledge and humor, his book is a sympathetic Baedeker to the Japanese way of life. It is well worth reading for that. Not many foreigners have been able to fit in so well with their neighbors. His explanations of modern Japan and its Confucian background ar...
I did not know that much about this culture until this paper. The Japanese people are very polite and respectful. The Japanese take education very serious and nature. Their langue is a lot different they have different styles of speaking even for different social status there is a certain way of thinking. In Japan there is a mixture of the Buddha religion and the Shinto. Both beliefs have the same influence on the Japan culture. Buddhism was brought o Japan in the early 6th century from China. There are five precepts that they go by which are no killing, no stealing, no lying, no sexual misconduct, and no use of intoxication.
Compare And Analysis The Japanese Buddhism And Indo Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded by Siddhartha Gautama in northeast India during the period from the late 6th century to the early 4th century BC. Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played an influential role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of much of the Eastern world. It is the prevailing religious force in most of Asia (India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet). ‘Buddhism’ is reformulated and re-expressed in different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects of the cultures in which it has taken root. Today, there are about 300 million followers. (Yamplosky) The Indian religion Buddhism, founded in the sixth century BC, is one of the common features of Asian civilization, and Buddhist institutions and believers are found all over East, South, and Southeast Asia. While Buddhism is now just a minority belief in the country of it’s founding, it remains a significant religious and cultural force in Japan today. Buddhism started in India and made its way to China and Korea. From there, it ended up in Japan. Buddhism went through several different periods before it became Japan's national religion. In indo Buddhism, the temple is the main sanctuary, in which services, both public and private, are performed but Japanese Buddhism is mainly hub of individual activities and services. Similarly to Japanese Buddhism, in Indo Buddhism the monastery is a complex of buildings, located usually in a spot chosen for its beauty and seclusion. Its function is to house the activities of the monks. Images are important features of temples, monasteries, and shrines in both Indo a...
The development and evolution of the different sects of Japanese Buddhism such as Zen Buddhism played an important role in the development of classical Japanese culture throughout the four major periods, which was shown in the way that the Nara period, the Heian era, the Kamakura period, and the Edo period were all shaped by the ascent and decline of different Buddhist sects. It is these transitions that make Japanese history a myriad, but fascinating web of interconnecting events that manages to confuse even the most veteran historians. At first, Buddhism was only a pastime of the elite class of landowners and daimyo that held no special significance to the common peoples. It was mainly another way for the central government to gain power and influence among the many local lords that it had to contend with on a regular basis. Although it is to be noted that most of these new converts to Buddhism did not abandon their earlier religions, but instead blended it together with several aspects of Shintoism, the original indigenous religion of Japan(“Japanese Buddhism”,1). This created several amalgamations of the two religions wherever and whenever they met(“Japanese Buddhism”,1). However, as Buddhism was introduced to the general population through the process of hierarchical diffusion, it quickly branched off and evolved from its original form as different sects that shaped contemporary Japanese culture (Kasahara, 302).
Asians are one of the fastest growing groups in the United States and their culture is unique. A majority of the Asian culture is known for making big dinners to bring the family together to simply talk or celebrate together. There are three main categories of Asian dietary culture, which are the southwest, northwest and southeast. We will be focusing on the second largest dietary culture of Asia, which is in the northeast that contains China, Korea, and Japan. Food in this culture is not only a method of fueling ones body it is also used in certain types of medicines to heal ailments and also used in religious offerings.
Journal of the American Oriental Society 121.4 (2001): 614-622. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web. The Web. 28 Feb 2014.
dragon. They spread rumors about the dragon and say that it is a menace and a
Buddhism prevailed as a religion indigenous to west India and comprises of varieties of traditions, beliefs and practices based on the teachings of Buddha. There are many reasons why Buddhism became so popular and entered into many civilizations. Buddhism began to be popular throughout Asia alongside India. Buddhism has blossomed in the contemporary world, especially in the West. It is an issue to wonder what Buddhism offers that other religions cannot and has become so significant worldwide. Buddhism has become an idea that is widespread and the teachings of Buddha have made a real difference in many civilizations like India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea and surprisingly Buddhism has come to make a significant difference in American culture.
Buddhism is a beautifully complex religion that since its widespread introduction to Japanese culture by the end of the seventh century has made enormous impacts and direct influences on the government and cultural practices of society (Hoffmann 36). The Japanese death poetry composed by Zen monks and haiku poets, compiled by Albert Hoffmann, is an excellent literary explication of the Japanese attitude towards death. This attitude is most notably derived from Buddhism, the main religion of the Japanese people. Even Japanese citizens who are not literal Buddhists still embrace the philosophies that have now become instilled in the cultural history of Japan due to such a heavy Buddhist influence on government and education throughout the centuries.
Fourteenth century Japan was a time of peace for many people. Buddhism had just become a major part of Japanese culture due to the Shogun Yoshimitsu. He became ruler in 1367 at the sapling age of ten (Waley 21). Yoshimitsu needed to distinguish himself from his ancestors and he did this by being devoted to Buddhism, specifically the Zen Sect (21). “Zen Buddhism and the life and teaching of Shinran are popularly identified as typical Japanese Buddhism.” (Takeda 27) However Buddhism, in Japan, is different and unique from Buddhism in other countries because it is considered the “funeral religion” (27). This is mainly influenced by ancient Japanese beliefs of the onryo.
Buddhism is the fourth largest religion, and has millions of followers worldwide. However, people cannot assume modern Buddhism as the same as its origin in ancient India. Buddhism has evolved into different branches. Japan has strong influence under Mahayana Buddhism. Japanese Buddhism differs from early Buddhism in the belief of emptiness which results in different interpretation nirvana.
In conclusion, one must acknowledge that cultural factors do affect economic activities. However, it must be noted, that values vary from country to country in Asia. For example, kinship ties in Japan are weaker than those in southern China, and Confucianism is interpreted very differently in Japan than it is in Korea. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all have functioning democracies, and were the first to be industrialized. Singapore and Hong Kong have higher per capita incomes but are not democratic. The determining factors to influence the growth of democracy in Asia will be cultural issues and not ideologies.
The movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, hosts mutated turtles with the names of four renaissance artists. These four are perhaps the most famous of this era; however, in order to cast a refreshed version of these four heroic turtles, one must be replaced. Although the current four artists each hold their own in terms of talent and the ability to usher in a new world view, the choice must be made. While comparing each of these artists to the most notable directives of the renaissance such as, a return to classical antiquity, the increase in humanism, and the interest in and improvement of the intellect and imagination, one artist may prove to be better suited. To begin, a look at the renaissance and its goals is required.
Starting out, they have deep respect for their elders and they care for them dearly. Elderly people are valued as important members of society as they pass down traditions from generation to generation. These traditions, which are also deeply valued, are deep-rooted that go back for millenniums. These traditions of working harmoniously and respectfully also spawn from their cultural roots in their three main religions, Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Their hardships throughout history are also considered a principle factor the the basis for their values. Other things that the japanese value are family, government, nature, and