/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Its the evolution of a native shamanistic religion that has become a part of the cultural norm and identity of Japan, but people don't seriously believe in it. Before the Meiji Restoration began in 1868 (and more specifically the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order of 1886) Buddhist and Shinto shrines were pretty much one in the same.

This is because Japan loves to sample things from different cultures and incorporate it into their own style. Commodore Perry helped break Japan out if its isolationist stance that was so popular in the Edo period, which created a massive influx in western culture. One of these was having a "national" religion. So because appearance is so ridiculously important in Japanese culture, they decided to divide their common religion into something that was distinctly unique, which became Shinto. New Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines were built to help divide a previous one, and the old one was dedicated to one or the other. Yet they still often share the same graveyard.

(field too long, splitting into two posts)

Tsurui.