Comments on: In Remembrance of the Great East Japan Earthquake http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/13/in-remembrance-of-the-great-east-japan-earthquake/ My life as a father, Buddhist, Japanophile and Koreaphile. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:50:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Doug 陀愚 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/13/in-remembrance-of-the-great-east-japan-earthquake/#comment-5970 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:46:10 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11226#comment-5970 Hi Johnl,

Yeah, I intend to stay out of that minefield (religions vs. philosophy) for now. ;) True statement about the few fervent believers too; I’d argue that’s true in many parts of the world (the fervent ones are often the noisiest, if you know what I mean). :)

]]> By: johnl http://japanlifeandreligion.com/2011/04/13/in-remembrance-of-the-great-east-japan-earthquake/#comment-5959 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:27:37 +0000 http://japanlifeandreligion.com/?p=11226#comment-5959 I agree–the idea that the Japanese are non-religious is not true. The research on this topic seems to be influenced by certain assumptions. To put it bluntly: if you don’t go to your ‘regular’ religious institution once a week and hear a sermon, you are not religious. Maybe even the Japanese who answer western researchers’ questions are influenced by this kind of thinking. Maybe there are not that many really fervent believers, but I think there are a lot who will drop a coin in the box of both the neighborhood ‘shinto’ shrine and the neighborhood Buddhist temple. At the same time, there are grounds for arguing that neither ‘shinto’ nor Buddhism is a religion… I am getting confused…

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