Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A mitamaya (御霊屋, literally mitama "soul [of the dead]" + ya "house"; also called, otamaya, tamaya, or soreisha 祖霊社, or "Reibyo" 霊廟) [1] is an altar used in Shinto-style ancestor worship, dedicated in the memory of deceased forebears. It generally has a mirror symbolizing the spirits of the deceased or a tablet bearing their ...
The Wajin (also known as Wa or Wō) or Yamato were the names early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms period.Ancient and medieval East Asian scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato with one and the same Chinese character 倭, which translated to "dwarf", until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 ...
It is known that these deities mostly have their origins as ancient gods of fortune from religions popular in Japan: from Mahayana Buddhism (Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Daikokuten) which came to Japan from China but originated in India, and from Chinese Taoism (Fukurokuju, Hotei, Jurojin); except for one (Ebisu) who has a native Japanese ancestry.
Most cultures who practice ancestor veneration do not call it "ancestor worship". In English, the word worship usually but not always refers to the reverent love and devotion accorded a deity (god) or God. [1] [2] [3] However, in other cultures, this act of worship does not confer any belief that the departed ancestors have become some kind of ...
During the Japanese medieval period, Hachiman worship spread throughout Japan among samurai and the peasantry. There are 25,000 shrines in Japan dedicated to him, the second most numerous after those of the Inari network. [44] Usa Hachiman-gū is the network's head shrine together with Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū.
The Japanese concept of religion differs significantly from that of Western culture. Spirituality and worship are highly eclectic; rites and practices, often associated with well-being and worldly benefits, are of primary concern, while doctrines and beliefs garner minor attention. [8] Religious affiliation is an alien notion.
In the Yayoi and Asuka periods, Japan began to see the introduction of continental Asian culture and technology from China and Korea. The first "official" transmission of Buddhism to Japan was dated to 552 AD by the Nihon Shoki, when King Seong of Baekje sent an envoy with Buddhist monastics, images, and scriptures to the court of Emperor Kinmei.
Obon or just Bon is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors.This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars.