Traveling around Japan with our great and friendly company, we visited quite a few temples in different cities. Each temple had its own peculiarities, which we got to know during excursions and hikes, it is quite difficult to remember all the subtleties and rules from the first time, but one thing we all understood for sure, the main religions in Japan are Shintoism and Buddhism.
Religion here is more like philosophy, an understanding of the world in which there is no teacher or God. The Japanese do not honor religion, but the traditions of their ancestors.
Shintoism is called the original Japanese religion.
Shintoism has no founding and sacred texts, it is based on reverence for the beauty of the world, reverence for animate and inanimate nature. Therefore, God is not alone here.
We learned many more interesting things, for example, that kitsune fox statues can always be seen in the Inari shrines, and on the way to the temples we will see many of them. It is believed that these intelligent animals act as messengers of the Inari deities. Foxes often have a key in their mouth (from a barn with rice). Watch your fingers: Kitsune foxes are werewolves and can inhabit a person by seeping through their fingernails. ?♀️
When entering the temples, you can buy wishes and predictions, which of course many took advantage of, but it's not so simple there either. Without knowing the Japanese characters, it will be difficult to understand what is intended for you.
