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8. The three religions of Japan
Japanese gardens appeared in response to a need for connection with the beyond.
And the search for perfect harmony, in the hope of transcending the physical world to reach the spiritual.
The history of Japanese gardens, like that of Japan itself, has been shaped by the successive and combined influences of the great Eastern religions and philosophies-influences through which the Japanese identity would affirm itself with growing strength.
Shintoism
Shinto, the official religion of Japan until 1945, was born in Japan.
A series of practices and rites, it honours ancestors and many divinities (kami) personifying natural forces.
Buddhism and its philosophical school, Zen
Buddhism appeared in northern India and spread through China and Korea before reaching Japan in the 6th century.
It is based on the teachings of Buddha, the Enlightened One.
Japanese art follows the principles inspired by Buddhist spirituality: represent the large by the small,
the complex by the simple, the extraordinary by the ordinary.
The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced in China in 520 and reached Japan in the 12th century.
It is based on meditation-Buddhist enlightenment, attained by freeing the mind from dualistic thinking.
Designing or maintaining a garden is a way of practising Zen.
The tea ceremony and the tea garden, imbued with the same spirit, preach the elimination of the superfluous.
Most Japanese gardens, including those in Kyoto, are attached to Zen temples.
Taoism
Another major influence imported from China, Taoism, its popular religion, originated with the
philosopher Chuany Tzu toward the end of the 4th century B.C., in keeping with a tradition of contemplative practices related to yoga.
It maintains that people must obey only the founding principle of the universe, the Tao.
Confucianism, finally, is part of what are called the three religions or the three ways-in Japan, it is
sometimes linked with Taoism and Buddhism or, more frequently, with Shinto and Buddhism.
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