Religions do not play a particularly important role in the everyday
lives of most Japanese people nowadays. The average Japanese just follows
the religious rituals at a few ceremonies such as births, weddings and
funerals.
Japan's two most important religions are Buddhism and Shintoism. The two religions coexisted for several centuries and even complemented each other to a certain degree.
Shintoism
The religion of early Japan, Shinto, revolved around nature. Shinto teaches that the natural world is filled with divine spirits or kami. The highest-ranking kami, the Sun Goddess, came to be identified with Japan's emperor. Shinto linked the Japanese to their homeland and the past
Buddhism
Beginning in Koryo in the 400s, Buddhism spread south from China into Korea. The Courts took on the new religion at first, then the nobles, then the common people. By the 660s Silla had unified the country and was sending Buddhist scholars and priests to Japan.
