Religion in Japan

The two main religions that I've encountered in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Both are major religions, with shinto as the state religion. I’ve been to a lot of shrines and have found that a lot of the basic rituals at both places are similar. 

In Shinto, there is the idea that the gods will help out with your everyday life in return for offerings and prayers. There are many different gods and they are all in charge of different things. I recently went to Fushimi Inari, which is a prominent pilgrimage location for worshippers of Inari - the god of Rice. The shrine is now prominently associated with luck in business, but people go there for a variety of different reasons.

There are thousands of Tori Gates at Fushimi Inari, which invite Gods in

All the Tori Gates form a tunnel that leads to the top of the mountain and back down

When I was in Hiroshima, I saw a shinto ceremony taking place at a shrine where a man was getting his car blessed - this costs some money and is supposed to protect you from accidents and ensure safe journey. You can sometimes get money knocked off your car insurance if it's been blessed.

A car undergoing a Shinto blessing

In Tokyo, I saw the Asakusa Kannon Temple, which was very large and full of people worshipping for a variety different reasons. There is water to purify your hands and mouth (which is similar to a shinto ritual) and a market place that lines the way towards the temple.

Cleansing Incense

Purifying Water

Prayers

Festivals in Japan

Japan has a variety of festivals all over the country - usually Shinto or Buddhist - that beseech different gods for protection against a number of things. So far whilst I've been in Japan, I've been to two festivals - Osaka's Danjiri Matsuri and Kyoto's fire festival.

A shrine going past at Danjiri Matsuri in Osaka

The Danjiri festival is known for being quite dangerous and I didn't really fully understand until I saw one of the shrines being slung around a corner.  Every place in Japan has its own Danjiri Matsuri, the size of which is dependant on the size of the place, and how many towns want to represent themselves with a shrine of their own. The atmosphere was great, and even though you could see that the people pulling the shrines were tired, they always had good spirits, laughing and joking with each other and with you, too.

Some friends we made when they were taking a break from the festival

Everyone taking part was running and dragging shrines all day in the burning heat

Kyoto's fire festival was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. In England, there's a yearly tradition of lighting bonfires and burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on the 5th November, but that doesn't even come close. Massive, burning, wooden torches were carried up the mountain to be put into one giant bonfire that then had shines pass over it. It's dangerous not only for the people carrying the torches, but for the spectators as well. It's a massive celebration, for locals and the many Japanese and foreign people that travel to Kyoto just for this event.

The torches just before being thrown onto the bonfire

The fire just as a new Torch was added

The people that lived nearby had the best seats in the house

Firefighters took over after the bonfire had dwindled and the festival moved elsewhere