Breakaway Destination Guides (International)

Japanese temples dating from the Nara, Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi periods are often very beautiful and there is a large number of them clustered around the ancient capitals of Nara, Kyoto and Kamakura.

Shinto is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. Japan is home to some 90,000 Shinto shrines. These are classified into a bewildering number of groups and sects by academics, historians, the government, and believers. Despite great confusion in classification schemes, only a few shrine types are predominant.

  Japanese Shrine Types & Classification

Its name was derived from the Chinese words "shin tao" ('The Way of the Gods') in the 8th Century. The Yamato dynasty had just consolidated its rule over most of Japan and divine origins were ascribed to the imperial family. Shinto established itself as an official religion of Japan, along with Buddhism.

The complete separation of Japanese religion from politics did not occur until just after World War II. The Emperor was forced by the American army to renounce his divinity at that time. Unlike most other religions, Shinto has no real founder, no written scriptures, no body of religious law, and only a very loosely-organized priesthood.

Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century BC. It consists of the teachings of the Buddha, Gautama Siddhartha. Of the main branches of Buddhism, it is the Mahayana or "Greater Vehicle" Buddhism which found its way to Japan.

Buddhism was imported to Japan via China and Korea in the form of a present from the friendly Korean kingdom of Kudara (Paikche) in the 6th century. While Buddhism was welcomed by the ruling nobles as Japan's new state religion, it did not initially spread among the common people due to its complex theories.

There were a few initial conflicts with Shinto, the two religions were soon able to co-exist and even complement each other. During the Nara Period, the great Buddhist monasteries in the capital Nara, such as Todaiji, gained strong political influence and were one of the reasons for the government to move the capital to Nagaoka in 784 and then to Kyoto in 794. Nevertheless, the problem of politically ambitious and militant monasteries remained a main issue for the governments over many centuries of Japanese history.

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