Japanese worldview: multiple-minded spirituality

Japanese spirituality can be baffling to foreigners. It’s commonly known that many Japanese people claim to belong to both Shinto and Buddhist religions, but they struggle to explain the difference. Those same Japanese people might also claim to be non-religious, yet attend multiple shrine and temple festivals each year and have a butsudan (a Buddhist altar to honour deceased relatives) and/or a kamidana (a Shinto god shelf) in their homes.

Multiple-minded spirituality

Polytheism is a key characteristic of Japanese spirituality. It includes the influences of Shinto belief, Confucian thought, and Buddhist practice. Prince Shōtoku (574–622), who brought about significant cultural reforms in Japan, described this national ideology:

Shinto is the root embedded in the soil of the people’s character and national traditions; Confucianism is seen in the stem and branches of legal institutions, ethical codes and educational systems; Buddhism made the flowers of religious sentiment bloom and gave the fruits of spiritual life.¹

Shinto’s animistic origins included the adoration of ancestors and nature worship, as well as the communal worship of local gods and guardians for the sake of a good harvest. The unstructured nature of Shinto meant it could easily adapt to integrate foreign beliefs and synthesise aspects that met the needs of the Japanese people. At various stages in history, Japanese governments have demonstrated a pragmatic approach to foreign religions, recognizing the benefits they can bring. For example, in the 16th century, Christianity brought European culture and trade; and in the Meiji era Shinto brought stability through shrine-controlled districts and education. Even in modern times, Shinto continues to evolve and develop new festivals such as the 七五三祭り (shichigosan festival).²

The belief in multiple sources of divine favour also led to the compartmentalizing of spiritual behaviour. Different gods could be worshipped or accessed through different locations or temples, for various purposes. For example, neighbourhood prayers for the rice harvest were made to local gods for the sake of the community. But specific requests for health, safety, or prosperity could be made to gods with particular specialties; for example, people seek healing for eye ailments at Arai Yakushi Temple in Nakano, Tokyo. Another example of compartmentalization are the many varieties of omamori (amulets) in both Shinto and Buddhism, since they represent approaching a specific god or relic for a specific purpose. Gods were thought to be distant, powerful, and generally uninterested in the life of an ordinary human. So, acts of worship or sacrifice were performed to gain the god’s attention and favour in order that requests might be heard. There was no perceived relationship between that god and the person’s life, outside of the transaction of the お祈り (oinori, prayer or wish) and the received favour. One result of this approach to spirituality is that there is very little connection to the worshipper’s everyday life.

Thus, the Japanese spiritual worldview has developed as highly flexible and tolerant of co-existing, and even contradictory, gods and beliefs. Spirituality, religion, and culture have often melded together through the communal nature of worship. And the emphasis is usually on the form of worship at a specific time and place. As a result, Japanese individuals may not expect to have a personal belief; but they may remain open-minded or pragmatically oriented to seek the divine favour of any number of gods, as suits their needs. Christianity in Japan can be perceived as one of many religious sources of happiness or good luck in an individual’s life, rather than a deep belief that impacts a person’s everyday thoughts, behaviour, and relationships.

Christianity in modern Japan

The acceptance of polytheism and participation in religious practices without a deep faith is still prominent today. According to a 2009 NHK survey, more than 60% of Japanese people have prayed to gods when facing difficulties,³ and more than 70% acknowledge the need for a religion in a person’s life. On the other hand, only about 50% of people believe that faith is necessary.⁴ This shows that, from a Japanese worldview, “the endorsement of strong beliefs is not a necessary part of religion.”⁵ Japanese society can thus be generally accepting of Christian practices without feeling the need to understand their deeper meaning or application. For example, 12% of Japanese people claim to feel an affinity with Christianity, which is much higher than the actual Christian population of approximately 1%.⁶ In educational institutions, 12% of universities in Japan were founded as Christian schools, but many of the teachers are not Christians. Roughly two-thirds of Japanese couples choose a Christian-style wedding ceremony, but this is often for aesthetic reasons, not because the couple holds Christian beliefs. While Japanese people have a high level of awareness of Christianity, there is an enormous gap between the forms of practice and faith in God.

Coming from this Japanese spiritual worldview, people can be tempted to adopt a syncretistic approach. They may tend to primarily seek favour from God, to compartmentalize religion from everyday life, and to follow Christian forms of worship without deep roots of understanding. From the perspective of multiple-minded spirituality, it’s challenging for Japanese people to accept Jesus Christ as the single and exclusive God or to see the relevance of faith in Christ to their everyday life.

Christ alone

When Paul wrote letters to Philemon and the church in Colossae, he was writing to people in a spiritual culture similar to Japan’s. The Colossian church, of which Philemon was a leader, was struggling with challenges to Jesus’ deity and authority. They were being influenced by local sects who worshipped angels and taught special practices. The local religion included a syncretistic mishmash of teachings from the Roman empire, Jewish traditions, and local folklore of Asia Minor.

Paul reminded them that Jesus is the creator and authoritative ruler over all things and all powers in heaven and on earth (Col. 1:16). He urged them to “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col. 2:8–9 NIV).

From the polytheistic worldview of many gods that are geographically located or have particular specialties, it is difficult to conceive of a single God who has authority over everything, who created all locations, and made all things. Sometimes missionaries from Western countries—even Japanese Christians who have grown up in the church—assume Japanese people have a concept of one omnipotent God. So when sharing the gospel with a Japanese person, it’s important to remember to explain the nature of God, and in discipleship to continually come back to the truth of Jesus’ divinity and authority, just as Paul did in his letters. We must never follow cultural urges to move on from or add to the message of Christ, but remain rooted in him alone (Col. 2:6–7).

A God who seeks

Another tendency derived from multiple-mindedness is attempting to win the favour of God. This thinking can also lead to an overemphasis on works or even a focus on actions in the church. Many church calendars are full of meetings, events, and activities as Japanese Christians often think being active at church is the marker of a good Christian. There is a sense of doing Christian duty by passing out bulletins, doing kitchen chores, teaching at Sunday school, playing piano, and cleaning the building. It’s easy for Japanese Christians to misunderstand what constitutes “service” or “worship” and the motives that should drive these actions. They can thus easily fall into thinking they need to perform acts of worship in order to gain God’s favour.

For someone with the perspective that gods are distant and uninterested and need to be sought out and appeased before a request is even made, it’s difficult to grasp the idea of an all-creating, all-ruling, all-knowing God who seeks us out before we even know of him.

When the Christians of Colossae were being tempted to keep certain rules or festivals to gain God’s approval, Paul reminded them that, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins” (Col. 2:13). It’s crucial to remind Japanese Christians that God sought us, saved us, forgave us, and marked us for eternal life with him—all before we had performed a single act of service.

It’s also important that churches don’t treat service at church as the marker of Christian maturity. Since God is not restricted to a church building, neither are the acts of Christian worship and service to be confined to that place. As Paul concludes, “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). Any acts of service or worship done by a Christian should be thought of as fruit of having being saved, motivated by a thankful heart, and directed to a loving God.

Spirituality that permeates all of life

The traditional Japanese religious way was to approach a specific god in a certain place for a particular request, and to have no further connection. Therefore, Japanese people may tend to think that Christianity can be compartmentalized and is only relevant to specific areas of their lives. Many Christians attend church on Sundays, then live the rest of the week from a worldly perspective. And many would be surprised if, after church, someone asked about their money or married life, or started a discussion about how following Christ and being a member of a Christian community needs to permeate their personal value system.

It is critical that Japanese church leaders exhort believers to apply the Word of God to their lives in concrete ways. All of Colossians chapter three, and into chapter four is a good example of Paul’s teaching about the practical aspects of living as a Christian—in thoughts (e.g. 3:2,8), behaviour (e.g. 3:5,9), and relationships (e.g. 3:13-15).

This type of deep, all-of-life outworking of Christian belief needs to be clearly demonstrated by church pastors and leaders, just as Paul set an example at each church he visited and with individuals that he mentored. Church leaders need to show by example how God’s word critiques their attitudes and behaviours in everyday life. This may require deep conversations outside of program-oriented meetings. If there are areas of life displeasing to the Lord and hindering a person’s spiritual growth, then the person needs to change and surrender every part of their life to Christ. This includes not only obvious sins and addictions, but also attitudes and behaviours in practical matters such as money, work, and marriage.

Seminars or courses on various topics—such as marriage, raising children, and work relationships—can be useful tools to start conversations. Through more practical teaching, we can learn to connect Scripture to specific areas of everyday life.

Deeply rooted, growing faith

To be a Christian does not mean just participating in church services and going to church programs. It’s about being a child of God. It is an identity, not an action.

In Colossians 1:9–14, Paul wrote that he continually prayed for the Colossian church—that they would continue to grow and deepen their understanding, as they lived a life worthy of the calling they had received. Paul wrote about a spirituality that is not a series of pragmatic interactions, but is a life journey with an eternal destination. While the Japanese worldview tends to focus on isolated transactions, it would be tragic to think that Japanese Christians might limit their Christian walk by viewing church attendance and Christian worship in the same way. It would be wonderful if Japanese churches encouraged their members to individually read God’s Word and discuss it regularly in small groups. Churches need to encourage discipleship that grows understanding of doctrine and theology (such as the nature of God, the glory of the cross, and Biblical perspectives of rest and work) for all Christians, not just for the leaders and pastors.

Let’s pray, as Paul did for the Colossians, that together with Japanese believers we will all grow in our personal belief in the God who loves us and has sought us out. Pray that we’ll see the relevance of Christlikeness in our everyday lives and that we’ll continue to grow in depth of knowledge of God’s word that affects our very identity.

1. Quoted in: Masaharu Anesaki, History of Japanese Religion (London: Tuttle Publishing, 2012), 8.
2. Hiroyuki Torigoe, “Is Japanese Religiosity ‘Optimistic’? Japan’s Traditional Culture of Folk Beliefs,” The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun: https://yab.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/wol/dy/opinion/society_150209.html (accessed December 8, 2020).
3. 西 久美子, “宗教的なもの”にひかれる日本人[The Japanese are attracted by “religious things”]: excerpts from the ISSP International Comparative Survey (religion), NHK: 2009: https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/research/report/2009_05/090505.pdf (accessed Feb. 11, 2021).
4. 日本人の宗教意識 [Religious consciousness of the Japanese people] (Tokyo: Nihon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai, 1984), 19.
5. Christopher Kavanagh, “Can Religion Be Based On Ritual Practice Without Belief?” Aeon, https://aeon.co/essays/can-religion-be-based-on-ritual-practice-without-belief (September 15, 2016).
6. Mark Mullins (author) and Megumi Takasaki (translator). Meido in Japan No Kirisutokyō. (Tokyo: Toransubyū, 2005), 253.