Nestled in the heart of bustling Shibuya, Meiji Jingu (明治神宮) stands as a serene oasis of tranquility, offering visitors a profound connection to Japan’s spiritual heritage amidst the modern metropolis. This Shinto shrine, dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, represents one of Tokyo’s most important cultural landmarks and provides a breathtaking experience where nature, tradition, and history converge.

A Forest Born from Devotion

What makes Meiji Jingu truly extraordinary is its forest—a man-made woodland created through the donations of over 100,000 trees from across Japan and planted by volunteers. This 70-hectare sanctuary, now a mature ecosystem with trees over a century old, demonstrates Japan’s deep reverence for nature and its ability to create sacred spaces within urban environments. The forest’s careful design creates a natural pathway that guides visitors toward spiritual reflection even before reaching the main shrine buildings.

Caede’s Spiritual Insight:
“As you pass through the first torii gate, something remarkable happens—the sounds of Tokyo fade away, replaced by birdsong and rustling leaves. This intentional transition prepares your mind and spirit for the sacred experience ahead. I always recommend walking slowly through this approach, allowing yourself to fully absorb the shift from urban energy to serene contemplation. For another beautiful spiritual experience in Tokyo, consider visiting Sensoji Temple in Asakusa for a different but equally meaningful encounter with Japanese tradition.”

The Heart of the Shrine

The main shrine complex, constructed in traditional Nagarezukuri style using Japanese cypress, exemplifies the elegant simplicity of Shinto architecture. Visitors follow the purified path to offer prayers at the main hall, where they can experience authentic Shinto rituals and ceremonies. The shrine’s design—without excessive ornamentation—creates a powerful atmosphere of purity and reverence that resonates with both Japanese worshippers and international visitors

Key Areas to Explore:

• Main Shrine Buildings: The central worship halls where ceremonies are conducted
• Inner Garden: Features the beautiful Iris Garden that blooms spectacularly in June
• Treasure Museum: Houses personal artifacts of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken
• Shinto Ritual Observance: Daily ceremonies that visitors may respectfully observe

Caede’s Ritual Guidance:
“Participating in basic Shinto customs can deepen your experience. At the temizuya (purification fountain), use the ladle to cleanse your left hand, then right hand, then mouth, and finally the ladle handle. When approaching the main hall, bow twice, clap twice, offer your prayer, then bow once more. These simple acts connect you to centuries of tradition. If you’re interested in learning more about Japanese spiritual practices, our guides at Japan City Tour can provide deeper insights during our cultural tours.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Caede’s Seasonal Recommendation:
“While any time is wonderful to visit, I particularly love early Sunday mornings in autumn. You might witness a traditional wedding procession—a breathtaking sight with the vibrant fall colors as backdrop. The sound of the groom’s traditional footsteps on the gravel path creates a rhythm that seems to connect present with past. After your shrine visit, the nearby Harajuku district offers a fascinating contrast between traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.”

Your Japan Tour

If you are thinking about making a trip to Japan, as seasoned Japan experts we can help you create your perfect Japan tour including destinations like the Meiji Shrine. Contact us to start planning your unforgettable holiday to this fascinating country. Japan is full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, culture, history, nature, and delicious food!

Practical Visitor Information

📍 Access:

• Harajuku Station (JR Yamanote Line) – 1 minute walk to main entrance
• Meiji-jingumae Station (Tokyo Metro) – 3 minute walk to main entrance
• Sangubashi Station (Odakyu Line) – 10 minute walk to north entrance

⏰ Hours:

• Shrine Grounds: Sunrise to sunset (varies by season)
• Inner Garden: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM (March-October), 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (November-February)
• Treasure Museum: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM (closed Mondays and following days if Monday is holiday)

💴 Admission:

• Treasure Museum: 500 yen (or combined ticket with Inner Garden available)
• Shrine Grounds: Free
• Inner Garden: 500 yen (includes Meiji Jingu Museum)

Essential Etiquette and Tips

• Walk on the sides of the main path (center is reserved for deities)
• Maintain a respectful quietness throughout the grounds
• Photography restrictions are clearly marked—please observe them
• Large bags and luggage should be stored at station lockers before visiting
• The gravel paths may be challenging for strollers and wheelchairs in some areas

Beyond the Main Shrine

Meiji Jingu Museum
Opened in 2019 to commemorate the 100th anniversary, this modern facility designed by architect Kengo Kuma houses precious artifacts and offers deeper historical context through interactive displays.

Naien (Inner Garden)
Originally created by Emperor Meiji for Empress Shoken, this paid-access garden features the spectacular Iris Garden, tranquil ponds, and the Kiyomasa’s Well—a spiritually significant spot.

Sake and Wine Barrels
Displayed at the shrine entrance, these offerings from Japanese sake brewers and French wine makers symbolize the cultural exchange championed during Emperor Meiji’s reign.

Caede’s Hidden Discovery:
“Most visitors follow the main path, but I recommend exploring the lesser-known north area near the Sangubashi entrance. Here you’ll find quieter forest paths and the Original Imperial Carriage House. It’s also worth noting that Meiji Jingu is actually part of a larger green corridor connecting to Yoyogi Park—you can easily spend a full morning exploring this entire green oasis in central Tokyo.”

Cultural Significance and Modern Relevance

Meiji Jingu serves not only as a religious site but also as a living cultural institution that preserves and transmits Japanese traditions. From the daily rituals performed by priests to the seasonal festivals that mark the agricultural calendar, the shrine maintains practices that have defined Japanese spirituality for centuries while remaining accessible and meaningful to contemporary visitors from around the world.

The shrine’s commitment to environmental stewardship is equally significant—the forest functions as a vital green lung for Tokyo while demonstrating how human intervention, when guided by reverence, can create sustainable ecosystems that benefit both nature and urban communities.

Caede’s Final Reflection:
“Meiji Jingu offers something increasingly rare in our modern world—a space where time seems to move differently, where the boundary between past and present softens, and where people from all backgrounds can experience moments of genuine peace and reflection. Whether you come for spiritual reasons, cultural interest, or simply to escape the city’s pace, this sacred forest has a remarkable ability to touch each visitor uniquely. It stands as a beautiful testament to Japan’s ability to honor tradition while embracing the future—a theme that continues throughout Japanese culture, from its ancient temples to its technological innovations.”

Rituals to receive a message from deities have been held from a long time ago. And it is said the current fortune paper style started in the 10th century with a monk named Ryogen at the Ganzandaishido Temple in Hieizan, Kyoto.

What is Witten on the Paper?

Let us explain the different parts of an omikuji paper, so it will be easier for you to understand what you are reading.

Message from the Deities and Buddha: It may be written in the form of a poem in Japanese (or in Chinese at some temples). It is difficult to understand the meaning because the real message is often hidden behind the poem. But luckily the meaning is explained on the paper. Here is an English example from Sensoji Temple in Tokyo.

The Level of Your Fortune: The paper indicates the overall level of your fortune. Best fortune is the top followed by good fortune, small fortune, and bad fortune. Some facilities may have more categories, and some facilities may not have the bad fortune category at all. It is probably good to know that some temples and shrines actually have many papers with a bad fortune, so you don’t have to feel too bad about drawing one of them.

Your Fortune in Various Areas: The paper also indicates your fortune in different areas. For example, your wish, a person you are waiting for, a lost item, traveling, business, study, investment, competition, love, moving, childbirth, disease, and marriage.

Languages: Fortune papers are written in Japanese, but temples that get many foreign visitors may have omikuji in foreign languages such as English and Chinese.

How to Draw Omikuji?

It depends on the religious facility. At some facilities, there is a box containing a bunch of rolled papers. You put money into the offertory box and pick one of them. One omikuji normally costs 100 yen.

Many facilities also have the following system. You shake a box that contains many sticks, each stick bearing a number. Then you shake the box, draw one stick, and check the number. You take the paper from the drawer with the corresponding number.

Some facilities may even have an omikuji vending machine. When you put the money in, the paper will come out automatically.

What to Do After You Read Omikuji?

Different facilities may explain differently, but basically, if you draw a good fortune, you can take it with you as a good luck charm. But if you draw bad fortune, do not worry too much. There are bars or ropes to which you can tie your bad fortune paper. You can find them close to the omikuji drawing place.

It is prohibited to tie it on tree branches because it may damage the trees and it takes time for the monks or priests to take it away. Anyway, if you tie your paper to the provided bars or rope, you will be free from the bad fortune. It is recommended though to read the message before you tie it, as it may contain useful information.

Omikuji Trends

Love Omikuji: It especially indicates the fortune of your love life with a message from the deities or Buddha. It gives you your overall fortune level, too.

Omikuji with a Small Amulet: Some omikuji are more expensive than the normal paper one because they contain small omamori or good luck charms. It may be a small metal auspicious animal. For example, turtles and cranes are symbols of longevity and carps are a symbol of strength. This symbolism is also visible at other times in Japan. For example, you may find carp streamers around the Children’s Day holiday, hoping that children will healthy and grow strong. The frog is auspicious, too. It is called ‘kaeru’ in Japanese which means ‘to return’, so it is a symbol of the safe trip home or money that returns.

Your Japan Tour

As seasoned Japan experts, we can help you create your perfect Japan tour. We will include guides who can tell you all about omikuji and other religious customs in Japan. Contact us to start planning your unforgettable holiday to this fascinating country. Japan is full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, culture, history, nature, and delicious food!

Portuguese Missionaries and the Shogunate

Christianity was brought to Japan in 1549 by Francisco Xavier, who was sent there as a Portuguese missionary. It was around the same time when the first gun was brought into Japan by the Portuguese. The 16th century was the Age of Discovery, and also the time when the Jesuits tried to spread Catholicism to combat the religious reform movement in Europe.

This combination made it only logical that Christianity would also one day arrive on the shores of Japan. Xavier was mainly active in Hirado (Nagasaki) and Yamaguchi. He managed to convert a few feudal lords, who in turn helped his activities so Christianity started to spread around Nagasaki.

Oda Nobunaga was the leader of a group of samurai who wanted the unification of Japan in the late 16th century. He accepted the activities of the missionaries, but when Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the leader he expelled them. There were several reasons for that; firstly, he was afraid that Japan might become a colony of the European countries like so many other Asian countries already had at that time.

Christian Rebellion

Secondly, he wanted to have all the power to himself, and a foreign religion was the last thing he could use if he wanted to establish that. And thirdly, he got angry about the fact that some Japanese people were sold as slaves by the Europeans. Also, some missionaries dismantled Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, making them even less popular with Toyotomi and his followers. To set a strong example, 26 Catholics were executed by crucifixion by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1597.

From 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu took the power and became Shogun. The Tokugawa Shogunate gradually prohibited Christianity, because the idea in Christianity that all people are equal is against the hierarchal ideas of the Shogunate, and if the missionaries would increase their activities, it would mean that the government loses control over the population.

There was a big civil war called the Shimabara Rebellion that occurred in 1637, in which the Christian population rebelled against the shogunate because they wanted to stay Christian. It is said that about 37,000 people in Shimabara (Nagasaki) joined this rebellion, and almost all Christians died either during the fight or by means of execution after the fight was over.

Seclusion Policy: What Happened to Christianity?

In 1639 Japan closed the country for nearly all foreigners, seclusion that eventually lasted more than 200 years. The policy meant that Japan stopped trade with all European countries in order to stop Christianity, except for the Netherlands after the Dutchmen promised that they would never spread Christianity in Japan. The shogunate controlled the trade by limiting their business activity to a small artificial island called Dejima in Nagasaki.

To stop the Japanese people from believing in Christianity, the shogunate made two rules. The first rule was that everyone needed to register at a Buddhist temple as a worshiper. The second rule was that everyone needed to step on an image of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary to prove that they were not Christians. After implementing these rules, it looked like Christians had completely disappeared from Japan.

That was, however, not really the case because many Christians continued their belief in secret. They stepped on the icon pretending that they were not Christians, but at the same time, they kept statues of Jizo or Kannon (the goddess of mercy in Buddhism), regarding it as Virgin Mary. They were regarded as hidden Christians. The novel ‘Silence’ by Endo Shusaku explained this very well. This novel was also made into a movie by the director Martin Scorsese.

Opening Up Japan

In 1853, American Commodore Mathew Perry came to Japan with his (in)famous black ships to ask the Japanese to open up the country for trade with the Americans. They came to Japan because they were looking for a port to refuel for their ships, mostly for the purpose of whaling. Besides, the Americans were looking for a base close to China. Under quite some pressure because of the far superior modern weapons of the US, Japan decided to open up the country after 200 years of seclusion in 1854.

Japan also made a treaty with Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. From that point, many westerners came to live in Japan to start a business. Missionaries also came to Japan again, even though Christianity was still prohibited for the Japanese. The westerners who lived in Japan were allowed to be Christian, so they were allowed to build churches for those westerners.

Surprisingly, when they built a church in Nagasaki, a lot of hidden Japanese Christians appeared. It turned out that they passed down Christianity from generation to generation for more than 200 years in secret! After the shogunate finished, the new Meiji government finally accepted Christianity in 1873.

Christianity Brought Japan Historical Churches

Because of its history with hidden Christians, Nagasaki’s population is around 4% Christian while only 1% in other parts of Japan are registered as Christian. The oldest existing Catholic church in Japan is Oura Church (its official name is Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan) in Nagasaki. It is designated as a national treasure and also listed as a World Cultural Heritage site.

It was constructed by a French priest in 1864 while it was still the feudal time in Japan when Christianity was prohibited for Japanese people. This church was therefore built for the westerners who started to live in Nagasaki after Japan opened up in 1854. Nagasaki Port was one of the earliest ports opened to the western world and many westerners, mostly merchants, came to live here.

Other than Oura Church, there are 11 more churches listed as the World Cultural Heritage sites as ‘Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region’. These churches are the witnesses of the history of hidden Christians during the Edo Period when Christianity was prohibited. They found a lot of Christians around the churches when they were built in the late 19th century.

Church Weddings: Are They Christianity Related?

Fast forward to the 21st century, and a very interesting phenomenon has popped up in Japanese weddings. Besides the solemn Shinto or Buddhist ceremony, many couples also opt to have a ‘church’ or chapel wedding. Fake churches and chapels have popped up all over Japan, usually in picturesque locations with a nice backdrop for the pictures. The sole purpose of these venues is to let couples get married in a church-like setting, so the wedding looks like the ones you see in American movies.

While only 1% of the total population in Japan is Christian, many couples opt for a Christian-style wedding in these special locations. The ceremony doesn’t have much to do with religion, but you can bet that it looks picture perfect with the perfect dress and the perfect cake, and especially the ladies tend to dream about a wedding in this style. You can compare it a bit with Vegas’ wedding industry, and from a commercial point of view, it makes perfect sense, as the Japanese wedding industry is good for trillions of yen every year, despite a shrinking younger generation.

Christmas in Japan

The western-style wedding industry isn’t the only Christian tradition that found its way into Japan’s modern traditions; Christmas has become a pretty big deal in Japan in the last 30 years or so. If you come to Japan in November or December, you will find many Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, and Christmas illuminations all over Japan. Children believe in Santa Clause, and they receive presents on Christmas morning. One part of the Christmas tradition that didn’t make it to Japan is the Christmas Eve mass, and the Japanese don’t go to church on December 24th.

Christmas is a very commercial event in Japan, which is probably best exemplified by KFC’s incredible marketing feat. As Colonel Sanders has a resemblance to Santa Clause and chicken can be a substitute to the traditional Christmas turkey, one brilliant KFC store manager came up with the slogan ‘KFC for Christmas’.

Many Japanese took this to heart, and December became KFC’s best month by far, year in year out. Another branch that profits greatly from the commercialism surrounding Christmas in Japan is the hotel business, the love hotel business in particular. While Christmas is associated with the family in most of the world, in Japan it is very much a couple’s holiday. And spending a romantic night in a hotel is one of Japan’s younger generation’s favorite ways to spend this holiday.

Your Japan Tour

As seasoned Japan experts, we can help you create your perfect Japan tour including guides who can tell you all about the Christian history in Japan and take you to some of the important churches. Contact us to start planning your unforgettable holiday to this fascinating country full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, culture, history, nature, and delicious food!

To an outside observer, Japan’s religious landscape can seem beautifully paradoxical. While the vast majority of Japanese people claim they are not deeply pious or religious in a traditional sense, spirituality seamlessly weaves through their daily lives, language, and cultural identity. It is incredibly common for a Japanese family to celebrate a birth or wedding with Shinto rituals, yet conduct a funeral following Buddhist traditions. Rather than choosing a single faith, Japanese culture relies on Shinbutsu-Shugo—a unique syncretism where Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples gracefully coexist, offering a holistic framework for honoring nature, ancestors, and the passage of time.

Shintoism: The Indigenous Foundation of Japanese Thought

Originating entirely within Japan’s ancient history and mythology, Shinto is an animistic spiritual system centered on a deep intimacy with nature and ancestor worship. Shintoists believe that all things on earth are brought forth and ruled over by Kami (gods or spirits) who reside throughout nature—in mountains, ancient trees, rivers, and even the wind. Every living being possesses a sacred energy that deserves absolute respect. This philosophy extends even to physical objects, explaining why Japanese society treats everyday items with exceptional care. In modern Japan, Shinto is less about dogma and more about a lived cultural identity, manifesting in daily expressions like “shoganai” (a phrase rooted in acceptance, meaning “it cannot be helped”) and major seasonal milestones like Hatsumode (the first shrine visit of the New Year).

Buddhist Traditions: Zen Philosophy and the Remembrance of Ancestors

While Shinto represents Japan’s native spirit, Buddhism was imported into the country along the Silk Road via China and Korea during the mid-6th century. Supported by historical rulers, it evolved significantly during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) into a religion focused on compassion and protecting the weak. Around this time, Zen Buddhism flourished among the samurai class. Unlike standard forms of Buddhism that emphasize reaching salvation after death, Zen focuses on attaining enlightenment in this current life through silent meditation (zazen) and mindful daily chores (samu). This philosophy deeply shaped iconic Japanese arts like the tea ceremony, ikebana (flower arrangement), and minimalist landscape gardens. Today, because Buddhism promises a peaceful hereafter, it anchors Japanese funeral customs, ancestral grave visits during the Bon festival, and the presence of Butsudan (Buddhist altars) inside family homes.

Iconic Symbols and Spiritual Tools of Shrines and Temples

When exploring Japan, distinguishing between Shinto and Buddhist structures is made easy by their unique sacred icons:

• Torii Gates & Shimenawa: A Torii is the wooden or stone archway marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine, functioning as the boundary to the Kami dimension. Hanging beneath them are Shimenawa—heavy ropes made of braided rice straw wrapped with zigzag papers called shide (representing lightning), which separate the earthly world from the heavenly.
• Omamori, Ema, & Omikuji: At shrines, visitors purchase Omamori (blessed fabric pouches containing lucky charms for health, safety, or exams), write personal wishes on wooden tablets called Ema (historically depicting horses, the vehicles of the gods), and draw Omikuji paper fortunes to peek into their future.
• Jizo Statues & Juzu: At Buddhist temples, you will frequently encounter Jizo—small, compassionate stone guardian statues clothed in red bibs that protect children and travelers. Worshippers also use Juzu, Buddhist rosary strands typically featuring 108 beads designed to systematically purify human beings of the 108 worldly desires.

Step-by-Step Guide: Etiquette for Visiting a Shinto Shrine

To show proper respect when stepping into the sacred dimensions of Japan’s Kami, international travelers should follow these essential steps:

Pass Through the Torii:Step 1。
Before walking under the main Torii gate, pause and perform a slight bow toward the shrine to show respect before entering the sacred grounds. Avoid walking directly down the center of the path, as that lane is reserved for the gods.

Purify at the Temizuya:Step 2。
Locate the stone water pavilion on the side of the path. Take the wooden ladle with your right hand, pour sacred water over your left hand, switch hands to wash your right hand, and finally rinse your mouth before placing the ladle back down.

Offer Osaisen:Step 3。
Approach the front of the main sanctuary hall (Haiden). Gently toss a coin into the large wooden offertory box (Osaisen). While any amount is acceptable, a 5-yen coin is considered luckiest as its name sounds like the Japanese word for good fortune.

Bow, Clap, Bow:Step 4。
Ring the hanging bell if one is present, then perform the classic ritual: Bow deeply twice, clap your hands crisply twice, hold your hands together to pray silently, and conclude with one final deep bow to thank the deity for listening.

Q & A

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History of Buddhism in Japan

Buddhism came to Japan in the middle of the 6th century. Supporters of Buddhism were victorious in the political power struggle of that time. Building temples in every area under government patronage, Buddhism spread throughout the country.

In the Kamakura period that lasted from 1185 to 1333, a number of new Buddhist leaders appeared. Deepening the religion’s philosophy, Buddhism became mainly about saving the weak. Zen Buddhism was brought to Japan in the Kamakura period by a monk who studied Buddhism in China. And it then flourished principally as the religion of samurai warriors.

At present, the culture in Japan that has Buddhism as its backdrop has its roots deeply in the lives of the people. And together with Shinto, it forms the spiritual culture of the Japanese people. Also, even today new sects of Buddhism keep emerging and gaining believers.

Buddhist Temples

A Buddhist temple is a place where monks and nuns reside to practice ascetic exercises and hold Buddhist ceremonies. It is also a place where Buddhist images are enshrined, and where anyone who wishes to do so can pray. At the entrance of a temple, you will often see a two-story temple gate. Behind the gate, there are buildings such as the main hall, an auditorium, a pagoda, and a bell tower.

While birth and marriage are in general associated with Shinto rituals, almost every Japanese person will have a Buddhist funeral ritual. One of the reasons for this is that Buddhists believe in a potentially good hereafter. Shinto, on the other hand, believes in a kind of underworld that you go to in your afterlife. That sounds decidedly less attractive.

Therefore, graveyards in Japan are generally located on temple grounds. People go to temples during Bon festival and equinoctial weeks for making visits to the grave of their ancestors. Relatives also gather on the anniversaries of deaths and have monks recite sutras in the temple.

Temples are not only visited by Japanese people for these solemn circumstances only though. They also visit temples for appreciating the beautiful structures and Buddhist images just like foreign tourists do.

Juzu (rosaries)

Juzu -Buddhist rosaries- are held in the hands when praying to Buddha. While counting the number of times, by touching the beads, that Buddhist prayers (sutras) have been recited. It is similar to the Catholic rosary. Juzu are held in the hands when worshipping Buddha. They are also used when paying respects to the spirits of the dead upon visiting their graves. There are usually 108 Juzu beads which are said to remove the 108 worldly desires cited in Buddhist teachings.

Jizo Statues

Jizo statues, who are guardian deities, are thought to protect all living things in the world. This is necessary from the time when Buddha died until the time when the Benevolent Bodhisattva will appear. In Japan, stone Jizo statues, usually about one meter high, are erected as boundary gods at the boundaries of towns and villages and at crossroads.

Jizo are said to rescue the spirits of children when they die and have even been erected at the actual spot where traffic accidents with children have occurred. Most people today feel a closeness to Jizo, fondly calling them Ojizosan.

Shinto-Buddhism Syncretism

A long time ago, when Buddhism arrived from abroad while Shinto was already there, Shinto and Buddhism already occasionally came together in a synthesis. This is called Shinbutsu-Shugo. Because Buddhism is not a theistic doctrine and Shinto principally worships nature, there are no contradictions in synthesizing them. This tendency has continued for a long time after Buddhism was introduced in the 6th century, with Shinto shrines supporting the construction of Buddhism temples.

When Japan began to function as a modern nation-state in 1868, Shinbutsu-Shugo became prohibited because the government set a policy of strengthening Shinto in order to support nationalism, but now once again it is quite common to set up both Buddhist family altars and Shinto family alters in the same house or to have a wedding with Shinto rituals and funerals with Buddhism rituals within the same family.

The Seven Lucky Gods

The seven luck gods, Shichifukujin in Japanese, are the seven gods that bring good luck to individuals, families, and companies. They are representative of gods and holy persons in Buddhism, Shintoism, and Taoism and are often drawn sailing a treasure ship together. It has been said that people in Japan, following the story of seven holy men in ancient China, put together seven gods of good luck and came to believe in them.

The Shichifukujin became widely known in the Muromachi period that lasted from 1333 to 1573. Nowadays, at temples and shrines with a Shichifukujin connection, people pray for a long life and family well-being, and a merchant who is hoping for business success will display a Shichifukujin picture in his shop.

Zen Buddhism

Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan by Japanese monks who studied Zen Buddhism in China in the early 12th century. It emphasizes gaining enlightenment through zazen (meditation while sitting still on the floor) and daily chores called ‘samu’ such as raising vegetables, cleaning, cooking, etc.

One of the most important differences between Zen Buddhism and most other forms of Buddhism is how Zen Buddhism emphasizes reaching the state of enlightenment in the current life while still alive, where other forms of Buddhism emphasize reaching that state after one of your next lives and after death.

Thoughts of zen such as ‘to know one has enough’ have deeply influenced Japanese customs, ways of lives, and culture such as tea ceremony, ikebana (flower arrangement), Japanese gardens, etc.

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Amaterasu Omikami is the incarnate goddess of the Sun. She governs the Universe and is the main deity of the Japanese Shinto religion. It is believed that the royal family of Japan descends directly from this important goddess. She represents fertility and makes plants grow that give life not only to humans but also to the gods. As the guardian of the Japanese people, she is represented by the emblem of the rising sun on the Japanese flag. The meaning of her full name, Amaterasu-ōmikami means ‘the great kami (goddess) that shines in the sky’.

The stories and myths about Amaterasu come from the Kojiki. This is the oldest book in Japan that was completed in 712 and means ‘Record of Ancient Things’. Before the written form came into existence, the Kojiki was transmitted orally. It contains myths, legends, songs, genealogies, and statements. It also contains historical narratives about the Imperial Court of Japan, families, and their origins.

According to Kojiki, Amaterasu was born when Izanagi, a primordial male deity washed his left eye during a purification process. Izanagi entrusted her with his necklace and was given power over the heavens. His brother, the storm god Susanowo, was born when Izanagi washed his nose and was given the power of the oceans.

Symbols of Amaterasu Omikami

You will find several symbols in depictions of Amaterasu, here are some of them explained:

Mirror: The original mirror that reflected Amaterasu was made by the blacksmith of the gods. It is kept in the Great Shrine in Ise in central Japan and it’s called Yata no Kagami. To this day, the sanctuary accepts visitors, and you can see the building where the mirror is stored. The mirror itself, however, has been hidden for 1,500 years. It is said that the mirror has eight sides since eight represents the number of perfection in Shinto. All mirrors are considered sacred to Amaterasu and it is a way to connect with her and reflect the state of the viewer’s soul. A Japanese proverb says: “When the mirror is dark, the soul is not pure.”

Necklace: As mentioned earlier, at the time of her birth, Amaterasu received a sacred necklace from Izanagi. It is also said that a jewel of this necklace is consecrated in the Great Sanctuary of Ise.

Solar Sword: Amaterasu is the guardian of the Japanese people and in her role as protector, the solar sword represents her martial attributes. It is also an indication of her ability to take her people to war when necessary.
The mirror, the necklace, and the sword are considered the three emblems of the Imperial Japanese Royalty and the three symbols of Shinto.

Shintoism in Japan

Shinto is the pre-Buddhist indigenous religion of Japan and is the most important religion today. It is worth noting that Japanese Shinto that focuses on honoring nature and the concerns of everyday life is frequently practiced together with Buddhism, which focuses on the concerns of future life. It is considered that many Buddhist deities are also Shinto Kami (gods).

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Japan has two main religions; Shinto and Buddhism. Although many people claim to have no particular belief,
most people participate in both Shinto and Buddhist customs and rituals. For example, most weddings are conducted according to Shinto rituals, while funerals usually follow Buddhist practices.

Shinto, Japanese Religions

The Shinto religion originated in Japan, and it is based on ancient history and mythology. People believe that spiritual forces exist in nature, in trees or mountains, in the sea, and in the wind.

With the development of Shintoism, heroes and other revered characters were included in the spiritual ones. Before the first shrines were built, people went to natural places to worship the natural spirits. Today, some homes have ‘trays for the gods’ in which food is offered to the gods.

Buddhism

Buddhism was born in India and introduced in Japan around the middle of the 6th century. The Buddhist religion in Japan is mainly based on Zen principles of reaching Nirvana while alive. Buddhist temples contain religious statues and visitors to temples often burn incense in front of the statues. Many families also have Buddhist altars where ancestors are worshipped in their homes.

Christianity

There is also a small percentage of Christians in Japan. They live all over Japan but you can mainly find them in the southwestern part of Japan in Kyushu due to its contacts with Portuguese traders and missionaries during the Edo period. You can, for example, see many churches in a city like Nagasaki.

Your Japan Tour

As seasoned Japan experts, we create perfect Japan package tours including guides who know all about religions in Japan. Check out our group tours and private tours, or contact us to start planning your unforgettable holiday. Japan is a fascinating country full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, culture, history, nature, and delicious food!

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