Japanese Culture and the Nature of What Exists

This article is second in a four-part series based on interviews with Japanese unbelievers about Japanese culture.

The academic term for the theme of this article is ontology or the philosophy of the nature of existence. Like people from all cultures, Japanese people have beliefs regarding what exists and how unseen entities relate to them.

I asked nine Japanese unbelievers the following three questions:

1. Where do the Japanese people come from?
2. What do Japanese people do at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples?
3. What are kami and what else exists that we can’t normally see?

1. The origin of the Japanese people

Nearly all the interviewees talked about the Japanese people originally coming from Korea, China, or Russia. (One joked that the Japanese people came from their mothers!) When I broadened the question to include where humans originally came from, I heard about evolution (although none were strongly convinced of its factuality), Egypt and the Middle East. The oldest person I interviewed, a woman in her fifties, simply said, “We never questioned where we came from.” One person surprised me with, “I am not a Christian, but I feel God made us.” She added that she couldn’t decide on one religion, but she feels strongly that God made us.

2. Shrine visits

Some common occasions for shrine visits are the first visit of the year (hatsumōde), usually during the New Year holidays, when people buy good-luck charms for health and peace (omamori), after the birth of a baby to give thanks and seek protection for it (omiyamairi), and for a special ceremony when children turn three, five, or seven (shichi-go-san). I learned about how shrines are often specialized—for example, housing the kami of water or of dolls. One man described the fire god festival and how people walk through hot ashes and then rush forward in the hope of obtaining some akiwa, which he described as lucky leaves.

Another woman spent a great deal of time describing what her family did when a member turned an age that is traditionally thought to be unlucky (yakudoshi). The entire family would go to the shrine for a special ceremony. She explained that there are different price ranges for what she described as the economy, standard and deluxe ceremonies. My son and I had both been involved in automobile accidents about a month a part, and this woman shared with us that she knew it must be a yakudoshi for someone in our family. Clearly, these beliefs filter the way she perceives events in people’s lives.

Those I interviewed spoke of funerals and memorial services as the only times when they go to Buddhist temples. Related to this is the summer festival of the dead (obon). Not only do these times represent what we would generally observe to be religious practices, they are also important family gatherings. With Japanese families becoming more scattered, ceremonies and festivals have become treasured family times. One woman spoke tenderly of gatherings where family members would share memories of their ancestors (shinobu).

3. Kami and other invisible beings

Those I interviewed spoke of the similarities between their ancestors (gosenzō) and kami. Both are looking out for you and may be able to help you. And yet they believed they were distinct from each other. One woman admitted that she had given little thought to any of this until recently. As family and friends aged, she began to wonder more about what happens to a person after death.

If you work with children, you’ve probably heard of ghosts (obake), but none of the adults I spoke with believed in their existence. They did, however, know others who did believe in them.

Conclusion

Along with our Christian belief in the existence of such unseen beings as God, angels, and demons, it is important to also have a good understanding of the individual beliefs of those with whom we are talking. We need to know about what they believe exists and how those beings relate to their daily lives.