Why Do japanese people believe they are not religious?

Question

Religion is tradition. that's all it is. I mean , going to church is just the same thing every sunday. Japanese may not go to church but they have festivals and stuff where they visit places or temples. I would consider that religious. It's fine, don't call it religious. but it's still the same

Answer 1

hi, i'm japanese.
the reason why we (or i at least) consider ourselves not religious is we do not care too much about customs or restraints related to religion.
for example, in some other religion, people do not eat on certain days, certain times, or certain food.
some people ( especially women) are not allowed to show their skin.
some people pray everyday, every night before you go to bed, every Sunday, or maybe many times a day.
but even though we japanese (or Shinto religion) are supposed to have something like those, we do not care.
we just do not do any. or we don't even know if there are such things that we are supposed to do, at least i don't.
and please do not consider me as a non educated or ignorant.
i am an ordinary japanese.
of course, we go to shrine to pray maybe once a year, and it's religious related, but no one really realize it.
in here it's almost the same as you go shopping before Christmas, annual event.
the concept of the religion doesn't root in japan, at least it hasn't yet.

Answer 2

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion. A religion answers the important questions of life.
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
What is my purpose?
What's wrong with the world?
What will fix it?

Religion is NOT just about God. But some people mistakenly think it is....

Answer 3

i thought japan got shindo religion