Message from mhagiwara

[Anonymous]

When I taught about Japan in my 7th grade history class and, two years ago, in my geography elective class, one of the more interesting topics was that of religion. The reason being that Japan has two "main" religions-Buddhism and Shinto; one is foreign and the other is native but there is a very interesting balance. The way I taught the two religions was through many pictures since I had visited so many shrines and temples during my stay there. Another way I taught about Shinto was through films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Both of these films places emphasis on the kami, or gods, that surround the Japanese people. These gods are found within nature and I felt that showing these films sufficiently showed that to be true. One of the questions I have is how is it that Japanese society has found such a harmony between the beliefs and lifestyles of the two religious systems?