Religions of Japan.—The two principal and national religions of Japan arc Sintuism or Sin-syuism (from sin, the gods, and syu, faith), the ancient creed of the countri, and Buddhism, which is exotic and comparatively modern. The doctrine of Confucius, as held by the literati of China, has also considerable influence under the name of Sooto, or "the way or method of philosophers:" but it is less a religion than a system of morals and philosophy. 1. Sintuism. The hierarchy of Sin-syu is composed of the mikado, two ecclesiastical judges, together with the monks and priests. The chief object of Sintu worship and belief is the great sun-goddess. The spirit ual emperor, mikado, is held to be the direct descendant of the sun-goddess, and, as such, unites in his person all the attributes of the deity. The minor deities of Sintuism are very numerous, for every hero, warrior, patriot, or public benefactor receives a regular apotheosis and canonization at his death, and is henceforth reckoned among the kami or demigods. Every district lies its patron saint or karat; and the shrines erected to the popular divinities are innumerable. Sintu temples are usually built on elevated ground and surrounded by groves; no idols are visible in them; but above and around, written sentences are inscribed. A mirror, as an emblem of the purity required in the worshipers, is placed on the altar. The chief doctrines of this indigenous religion of Japan are: 1. Inward purity of heart; 2. A religious abstinence from whtftever makes a man impure; 3. A diligent observance of the solemn festival and holy days; 4. Pilgrim :.ges to holy places; and 5. According to some, chastising and mortifying the body. The form of worship is simple: the worshipers first wash themselves in the font, pray opposite the mirror, throw a few cash into the money-box, and finish by striking a bell, to intimate that their religious duties are over.
2. In Japan, Buddhism, which was introduced 552 A.D., has been modified by its contact with Sintuism, with which it has to a certain extent amalgamated. No less than eight Buddhist sects exist in Japan. Buddhism has properly no priests, but here the monks appear to have assumed the functions of that order. Dr. Smith has given an interesting description of a Buddhist service he saw at one of the temples in that country (see his Ten Weeks in Japan, p. 34). "Amongst the services which I ever wit nessed," lie says, "I seldom beheld in a pagan country an assemblage of native wor shipers so nearly approaching the appearance of a Christian assembly and the details. of an ordinary Christian service." Amongst the more educated classes, the same skepti cal indifference to the religious observances of the multitude that prevails in China is observed.
The Japanese Written principle of duality, which pervades the of the Japanese, extends to their mode of writing, for two distinct alphabets and kinds of writing are in use. There is, 1st, the ideographic system of Chinese hieroglyphic symbols, which dates from the 3d c., A.D.; ane2dly, the phonetic syllabarium, of more recent invention, consisting of 47 characters, and a few supplementary monosyllabic': sounds. Prior to either of these, some antique form of writing, now consigned to oblivion, is supposed to have existed.
The phonetic alphabet, invented about the year 810 A.D., is known as the hiragana form of character. In process of time, this system was rendered more complex by the addition of variations, and this led, apparently, to the introduction of another and simpler alphabet, entirely without variants, and known as the katagana character.
Both these phonetic systems are written in perpendicular columns. It is not a little remarkable that the Chinese ideographic symbols retain their ascendency over the indi genous alphabets, and are adopted almost exclusively for diplomatic documents and the higher class of books. In common life, the Chinese written language is in familiar and constant use.
There is no similarity whatever between the spoken languages of China and Japan; the latter—one of the softest tongues out of Italy—is not very difficult of acquisition,' and is without the Chinese system of intonations; it is not monosyllabic, but what Dr. Latham calls agglutinate.
The literature of Japan is abundant and various, and includes works on history and science, encyclopmdias, poetry, prose fiction, and translations of European works. Besides original writings, the Japanese have adopted the whole circle of Chinese Confu cian literature; the Chinese classics, indeed, form the basis of their literature, system of ethics, and type of thought.
In the mechanical arts, the Japanese have attained to great excellence, especially in metallurgy, and in the manufacture of porcelain, lacquer ware, and silk fabrics; indeed. in some of these departments, works of art are produced, so exquisite in design and execution as to more than rival the best products of Europe. The .Japanese have long understood lithoerome-printing. Their drawings of animals and figures generally are wonderfully graphic, free, and true to nature; but in landscapes they fail, from erroneous perspective; and of the art of painting in oils they are entirely ignorant.
The commercial intercourse of Japan is now carried on mostly, with Great Britain, and the United States of America.
The following table shows the extent of the trade by exhibiting the value of the total exports from Japan to Great Britain, and of the total imports of British and Irish pro duce and manufactures into Japan during the five years 1872-76.
The principal item of export from Japan to Great Britain is raw silk, valued in 1876 at £432,234; next in value come tobacco, wax, and rice. The staple British import is cotton goods, Valued in 1876 at £1,328,461; also woolen fabrics and iron.
Upwards of 60 m. of railway have been opened for traffic. The Japanese telegraph system extends over 1750 miles. In 1876 the post-office, established in 1871, carried 30,312,100 letters, and had a revenue of £119,040. The basis of the new Japanese money system is the yen, equal to ,the American trade-dollar.
For the latest information on Japan, sec Adams, History of Japan (Lond. 1874): Mossman, New Japan (Lond. 1873); Arinori Mori. Education in Japan (New York, 1873); article " Japan," Blackwood's Magazine, Sept., 1872; The. erchant's Handbook, by 'W. A. Brown (Lond. 1872); Japan, being a sketch of the history, government, and officers of the empire (Loud. 1869); Japan in our Day, by B. Taylor (New York, 1871); The Statesman's Year-book, by F. Martin (Loud. 18;8): and for general reference. see The Capital of the Tycoon, by sir Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B., etc. (Lund. 1863); A Residence at _Nagasaki and Hakodati in 1859-60, by C. P. Hodgson (Lund. 1861); Hrst Elements of Japanese Gragallar, etc., by R. Alcock, esq.: Narrative of the Bill of E7gin's Mission to China and Japan in the years 1857, 1858, and 1859, by Lawrence Oliphant (Loud. 1859); The History of Japan, by Engelbert KiImpfer, 31.D. (Load. 1727).