Shinto resurgence among young Japanese?

[Samurai_Jerk]

In 'non-religious' Japan, the shrine can still exert a pull

Japan is one of the world's least religious countries, according to a Gallup survey this year. Yet some observers have noted an uptick in the number of young people visiting religious sites at pivotal moments in their lives.

Yasunori Ueda may visit the Ise Grand Shrine every summer to pray to for his family and good health, but that doesn’t make him religious.

“Visiting a shrine to pray is different from being religious,” he says while walking along the gravel path that leads to the main shrine, the most sacred spot in all of Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion. “It has nothing to do with religion. Most Japanese, including me, don’t think about whether we’re religious or not.”

It’s a common refrain at Japan's more than 80,000 shrines and temples. Yet evidence of an instinctive spirituality that infuses daily life can be spotted across the country, from the small shrines tucked behind busy Tokyo streets to the sacred grounds that dot rural byways.

A survey published earlier this year by Gallup International and the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research found that Japan is among the world's least religious countries. Sixty-two percent of respondents identified themselves as either not religious or atheist, placing the country behind only China and Hong Kong in Asia.

[...]

That enduring appeal has contributed to a booming tourism industry. A largely domestic audience of about 3 million people flock to Meiji Shrine and Senso-ji temple in Tokyo during the first three days of the New Year, Japan's most significant holiday. A survey conducted in 2012 by Travel and Leisure found that both sites receive 30 million visitors annually, the most of any religious sites in the world – a number that includes many visitors interested simply in seeing the landmark structures.

The number of visitors at the iconic Ise Shrine (pronounced ee-say) spiked at 14 million in 2013, the year the shrine was deconstructed and rebuilt as part of an ancient ceremony that's repeated every 20 years.

[Salty]

My guess is that It is all because of the quality of TV programs... they will do anything to get out of the house and away from the broadcast ignorance.

[Coligny]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

[matsuki]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

Lolicon qualifies...

[Coligny]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

Lolicon qualifies...

[]

Monday is non sequitur day on FG...

[yanpa]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

Lolicon qualifies...

[]

Monday is non sequitur day on FG...

Cheese wallaby.

[Coligny]

Buttfuck ramshack...

[matsuki]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

Lolicon qualifies...

[]

Monday is non sequitur day on FG...

Don't say that to the local pedo's....their creepy devotion and worship of "idols" rules their lives.

[Salty]

Superstition is not religion...

/I think...

Maybe - but belief in religion is belief in superstition, IMO.

[Coligny]

Aint religion a carefully organised and scheduled set of superstitions ?

Therefore, going to throw a coin at the local temple before getting HIV tests results is not a religion, just a superstition.

Masturbating in the entrails of a freshly sacrified goat might be closer. Not that I know people who do this...
Have to go, I'm late for the litterbox purification ceremony.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Maybe - but belief in religion is belief in superstition, IMO.

Not necessarily. Belief in things like an afterlife or a creator in and of themselves aren't what I would classify as superstition. Depending on how you see those beliefs affecting your daily life they might be though.

Therefore, going to throw a coin at the local temple before getting HIV tests results is not a religion

I agree with you that superstition ins't religion but the example you gave might be borderline since there's a temple involved. Wearing your lucky underwear every time you take a test would be an example of superstition that's definitely not religious.

But, yeah, I've always said that religion in Japan is closer to superstition for most people which is how I like it. I think it's cool to hang on to some of the trappings of religion for cultural or ceremonial reasons.

[Coligny]

For some it's going to a temple, for other it's taking a dump in the leftmost stall at work every monday...

Same difference...

[Tsuru]

Wait, what?

How does something qualify as a religion, but not as superstition?
AFAIK they are different degrees of the same thing...

e: never mind, I think I misread. Carry on.

[Salty]

... Not necessarily. Belief in things like an afterlife or a creator in and of themselves aren't what I would classify as superstition. Depending on how you see those beliefs affecting your daily life they might be though.

There not being one iota of evidence for an afterlife or a creator, IMO belief in them is belief in superstition. I do believe in some things for which I have no evidence - but where I believe others have that evidence. Not so with afterlife, creators, Bigfoot, fairies, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, etc. That said, I have no problem with people believing in any, or all of these.

Most people I know visit the shrines as a part of their life rituals – like gargling, sending gifts, saying good morning, doing year-end house cleaning, etc. Very light hearted and without seriousness beyond being seen to be following the prescribed cultural ritual.

[matsuki]

I think SJ put it best...

religion in Japan is closer to superstition for most people which is how I like it. I think it's cool to hang on to some of the trappings of religion for cultural or ceremonial reasons.

(But my buffalo and cornfed gods would kick their scrawny veggie eatin' shinto asses)

[Takechanpoo]

shinto is inseparably bound up with Tennou(emperor) system. you guys do need to study it bitch
it still invisibly binds j-society on the root.
j-totalitarianism, j-irresponsivility, j-antiforeignism.....
it all ends up to tennou system if you dig it up to the bottom.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A ... 4622083477
this book is a bible to understnd tennou system

it has no english version. just read it by japanese. here is japan.

[Coligny]

image.jpg

here is japan.

Quoted for truth...

[Samurai_Jerk]

There not being one iota of evidence for an afterlife or a creator, IMO belief in them is belief in superstition.

Your understanding of superstition is wrong because superstition has to do with causation. If I believe in magical fairies but don't believe they have any affect on my life, it's not a superstition. If I believe leaving offerings for those magical fairies under the willow tree in my back yard will bring me good luck, it's a superstition.

[Salty]

There not being one iota of evidence for an afterlife or a creator, IMO belief in them is belief in superstition.

Your understanding of superstition is wrong because superstition has to do with causation. If I believe in magical fairies but don't believe they have any affect on my life, it's not a superstition. If I believe leaving offerings for those magical fairies under the willow tree in my back yard will bring me good luck, it's a superstition.

Even using your distinction on superstition – IMO, that is exactly what believers in an afterlife, or creator expect (a causitive affect on their life). That is, to be rewarded for `good` behavior in this life – when they enter an afterlife. Or to be forgiven for bad behavior in this life, if only they pray to a creator. (At least for Xians…) BTW - they may actually get an affect, such as a calmer mind, better acceptance in a society permiated with like-believers, etc. - but IMO, that doesn`t remove them from belief in superstition (if they truly believe, instead of simply saying that they believe even when they don`t.)

Here from dictionary.com….. No requirement that a personal impact accrue……….

noun

1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

2. a system or collection of such beliefs.

3. a custom or act based on such a belief.

4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.

[Samurai_Jerk]

There not being one iota of evidence for an afterlife or a creator, IMO belief in them is belief in superstition.

Your understanding of superstition is wrong because superstition has to do with causation. If I believe in magical fairies but don't believe they have any affect on my life, it's not a superstition. If I believe leaving offerings for those magical fairies under the willow tree in my back yard will bring me good luck, it's a superstition.

Even using your distinction on superstition – IMO, that is exactly what believers in an afterlife, or creator expect (a causitive affect on their life). That is, to be rewarded for `good` behavior in this life – when they enter an afterlife. Or to be forgiven for bad behavior in this life, if only they pray to a creator. (At least for Xians…) BTW - they may actually get an affect, such as a calmer mind, better acceptance in a society permiated with like-believers, etc. - but IMO, that doesn`t remove them from belief in superstition (if they truly believe, instead of simply saying that they believe even when they don`t.)

Here from dictionary.com….. No requirement that a personal impact accrue……….

noun

1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

2. a system or collection of such beliefs.

3. a custom or act based on such a belief.

4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.

What you've added to those beliefs is superstition but I said those beliefs in and of themselves aren't.

I don't accept number 5. It's so broad as to be meaningless. Based on that definition a woman who believes her husband would never cheat is superstition.

[matsuki]

I don't accept number 5. It's so broad as to be meaningless. Based on that definition a woman who believes her husband would never cheat is superstition.

[Salty]

I don't accept number 5. It's so broad as to be meaningless. Based on that definition a woman who believes her husband would never cheat is superstition.

Double , but still superstition.

[Salty]

There not being one iota of evidence for an afterlife or a creator, IMO belief in them is belief in superstition.

Your understanding of superstition is wrong because superstition has to do with causation. If I believe in magical fairies but don't believe they have any affect on my life, it's not a superstition. If I believe leaving offerings for those magical fairies under the willow tree in my back yard will bring me good luck, it's a superstition.

Even using your distinction on superstition – IMO, that is exactly what believers in an afterlife, or creator expect (a causitive affect on their life). That is, to be rewarded for `good` behavior in this life – when they enter an afterlife. Or to be forgiven for bad behavior in this life, if only they pray to a creator. (At least for Xians…) BTW - they may actually get an affect, such as a calmer mind, better acceptance in a society permiated with like-believers, etc. - but IMO, that doesn`t remove them from belief in superstition (if they truly believe, instead of simply saying that they believe even when they don`t.)

Here from dictionary.com….. No requirement that a personal impact accrue……….

noun

1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

2. a system or collection of such beliefs.

3. a custom or act based on such a belief.

4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.

What you've added to those beliefs is superstition but I said those beliefs in and of themselves aren't.

I don't accept number 5. It's so broad as to be meaningless. Based on that definition a woman who believes her husband would never cheat is superstition.

I think we will simply need to disagree. It happens frequently with religion and politics. I`ll not post further on this aspect.

[Wage Slave]

The difference between religious belief and superstitious belief is primarily connotation rather than denotation/signification. Like:

conspiracy - association
propaganda - publicity
pig headed - strong willed

And that allows people who believe strongly in one religion dismiss other religions as superstition without troubling themselves over meaning and double standards.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I`ll not post further on this aspect.

Oh no!!! Whatever shall I do?

[Salty]

I`ll not post further on this aspect.

Oh no!!! Whatever shall I do?

I didn`t mean that as a slap at you or whatever it is that you believe in, but rather as recognition that it isn`t likely that we would make progress in understanding or come to agreement. I do hope I haven`t offended.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I`ll not post further on this aspect.

Oh no!!! Whatever shall I do?

I didn`t mean that as a slap at you or whatever it is that you believe in, but rather as recognition that it isn`t likely that we would make progress in understanding or come to agreement. I do hope I haven`t offended.

I don't believe in anything.

[matsuki]

I don't believe in anything.

I believe in medication...as in lots of people that have "found religion" need more meds than beliefs.

[Coligny]

I`ll not post further on this aspect.

Oh no!!! Whatever shall I do?

I didn`t mean that as a slap at you or whatever it is that you believe in, but rather as recognition that it isn`t likely that we would make progress in understanding or come to agreement. I do hope I haven`t offended.

I don't believe in anything.

l

image.jpg

[Russell]

For some it's going to a temple, for other it's taking a dump in the leftmost stall at work every monday...

Same difference...

Hey, hey, the leftmost stall is the only Western-style toilet...