What is Japan's religion? Or is there any?

[Kazehayakun]

I haven't personally visited Japan but I've been working on a thesis for my graduate studies about the Asian traditions vs religions or if there's any parallelism involved between the 2. I know for some countries, their traditions and beliefs are not in any way, related to their religion at all. There are also some that their traditions are loosely related or influenced by the country's main religion. I've been working on this document for months now and it's tricky for countries like Japan to get answers just by researching so I decided to gather thoughts from people who are familiar about the country, those who've lived there or travelled there as to what they really think. Both facts and opinions are greatly appreciate.

[thatha]

I think today in Japan, a lot of people are buddhist but for most people being Buddhist means almost nothing. Unlike other people with other religions, Japanese do not pray, do not fast and so on. Japanese have some holidays like obon (a period devoted to the dead), some events like hatsumode (new year's at the shrines and temples), and a custom to keep their family member's ashes at home. But all of this is more like a culture rather than a religion. Even though people are technically Buddhist none of Japanese people actually meditate or even believe in any type of God (monks do). Instead of God, a lot of Japanese believe in their own effort to make things happen in their life. and like any human in the whole world, there are things that are beyond our control but in my opinion this is why Japanese are hard workers. I think their religion is effort. They believe it is only up to them to make things happen which can be a good thing but when they fail, a lot of people hit rock bottom and become mentally ill. Because then they believe they are not good enough. I have seen that happen with friends and it can get sad.

[Kazehayakun]

That's really interesting, thatha ! It is more realistic though to believe in effort rather than religion. I have some atheist friends and that's how they view things, too. I wonder if the modern Japanese more or less label themselves as atheist. I guess that's the reason, too why seppuku or harakiri exists because if they feel like they are not good enough, that's the end of it all. Forgiveness to oneself and acceptance of one's shortcomings are usually preached by religions. And of course forgiving people who've done you wrong is also another teaching. They perhaps tend to be more objective than subjective that's why it's difficult for them to accept failure. It is really sad...

[Kujira]

I thought Shinto was the primary religion, but I found most Japanese people I met to be fairly secular, at least compared to what I'm used to in the US.