When I was living in Japan I was shocked to learn that many Japanese "celebrate" Christmas but that they had no idea that Christmas was a Christian holiday.

I hope more Japanese people will get to know about Jesus Christ more, it's a very fulfilling and loving and truthful relationship

天におられる私たちの父よ、あなたの御名をあがめます。あなたの王国が来ます。この日、私たちの毎日のパンを与えてください。私たちを誘惑に陥らせず、悪から救い出してください、アーメン。

I'm a Japanese Christian and I highly doubt that 62% are atheist. Most Japanese people do believe in god or some kind of higher power cuz that is part of our culture. but many Japanese people think religion is kinda scary and sketchy (some cults did really bad things in Japan) so they don't wanna be religious.

Interestingly, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two cities to be hit with atomic bombs during WW2, were the most Christian cities in Japan at the time.

God Bless Japan and the people 😊🙏

May God bless Japan. In The Name Of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amén 🙏🏼❤️‍🔥

Still love Japanese traditions, food, and culture etc. I would love to visit Japan before I die

Japanese people celebrate Christmas, Valentines Day and Halloween because of a trend

I didn't think many Japanese were actually atheist. I thought most were just non religious but not necessarily atheist. I seem to recall a study showing many did believe in a higher power or were simply open to the idea making them theists and agnostics. The thing people often misinterpret with statistics is thinking non religion = atheist when normally that is not the case. In my country, there's a lot of non religious people but they aren't atheist.

i'm a Chinese Christian, really hope that more Japanese could become Christians... pray that God will open the door of the Gospel to Japan, and Jesus Christ has paid all the punishments on the eternal cross for every individual's sins on earth

I hope more Japanese people will open there Hearts for Jesus Christ Amen

It's sad how shinto weddings are getting less popular, bc their traditional customs are so beautiful

You don't need to be a Christian to celebrate Christmas, Valentine's day, Halloween, etc. I celevrate those events too as an atheist.

I am a Christian, to be specific a Catholic. Knowing about history, and how Christianity once was spreading like wild fire in Japan before it’s unfortunate ban, it would’ve been really cool to see what Japan’s religious demographics would’ve been like now. On a side note, I believe that religion is much more than celebrating holidays. Religion is a way of life, it’s is spiritual. I pray for the conversion of Japan and of the whole world to trust and accept Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! ✝️🇻🇦🤍🙏🏼

To be honest, Christian-esque wedding ceremony in Japan isn't true Christian wedding by faithful Christian standard because the priest is just MC in priest tunic, and the couple aren't baptized. To be valid Christian marriage, the ceremony should be held by true Priest and at the least one of the couple should be baptized as Christian. so, What Japanese do is just simply Disney Princess wedding rather than true Christian wedding.

Christmas is very festive in Sri Lanka as well. But, Christian population is just 7-8%. Christian culture was expanded to Asia during the European colonial rule. Most of the Asian countries have Christian European cultural influence eventhough they do not follow Christianity specifically. Back then, Sri Lankan buddhists also had their weddings in European style like japanese do. But now, old cultures are visible with few modifications.

It’s cultural religiosity. There’s a similar thing in many parts of America. People don’t really believe in the religions. But they keep the customs. I know many Americans who go to church every Sunday yet don’t even read their Bible. Church isn’t something they go to out of faith. Rather just “because it’s always been done” or something like that.

Christianity is inclusive: anyone can come to Christ regardless of race, ethnicity, economic status. But it is exclusive: only through Jesus can you truly know God. Just as going in a garage doesn’t make you a car, so having a wedding in a church does not make you a Christian. Jesus wants all of your heart and allegiance. And that is easy to do when you see what He has done and proved His love on the cross.

To be honest with you, I love Japanese people celebrating their Buddhist and Shinto festivities which is part of the ancient cultural heritage of Japan and every country in the world has their own religions to celebrate and for outside people to always respect everybody’s cultural heritage!

I am Indonesian of Chinese descent. I am a Buddhist, but I also love Christmas & back at school often celebrate Christmas with my Christian/Catholic friends. Because Christmas always look fun with all the decor, nice stories & movies. My Catholic friend even allowed me to borrow her bible to read some of the interesting bible stories I've heard about. Majority of Indonesians are Muslim so during Ramadan, my Muslim friends and I would schedule a meet-up to break their fasting together (I'm not fasting). My mom would make ketupat and all the signature dishes that go with it and give it to her Muslims friends, of which her Muslim friends would give us the same thing. It's kinda an old tradition of Jakartans but not many people know or do now, sharing homemade ketupat. I go to vihara and celebrate important days in Buddhism: Vesak, Asalha Puja, Magha Puja, Kathina. Everything based on the Theravada teachings, a Buddhism practice that is said to be the closest version to how people done it when Buddha Gautama was still alive. On the other hand, I also celebrate Lunar New Year because of my Chinese lineage and go to the temples to pray to well-known gods & goddesses in ancient Chinese culture. On January 1st, most people in my country celebrates it with dinners and events just like most people do in western countries. When getting married: people here either do it according to their religion + culture, or you could just straightaway go to the civil registration office. It's okay to celebrate other culture or important days of other religions as long as you understand the background story of it. If you're cherry picking only the fun part, those things would have no meanings. And when you can't find meaning in life, you will start losing yourself. Start learning more about your own religion. But also don't be a fanatic, overdoing it and became too religious, it can make you go crazy too. It is never good to think your religion is the best and that people will not find blessing/salvation in life unless they join your religion. This kind of mindset is why we have extremists.

I was amazed to know that only 3% were shintoists! I hope they stay true to their years old original culture and religion! It's good to see other countries in their ancient traditional ways!🇮🇳❤🇯🇵

They most must believe and see reality of Shintoism which is part of their culture

I agree many people do follow the norm and society rules and it’s customs unaware of its traditional symbolic meaning

They're just vibing

My japanese grandma grew up christian. She doesn't do halloween, but she's ok with nikko Lucky Cat (shinto idol, I think, that's what she said). She wanted to be cremated, which is a more buddist way of burial. The memorial service was christian in japanese with a translator. We did not cover mirrors or put food out. Grandma believed there are two destinations. Spirit doesn't hang around. Grandma went to the house the father prepared. I know it looked like the chiba-ken of grandma's youth. She missed japan a lot the farther she slipped into dementia.

Christian here. I remember hearing about the Christian persecutions of the Edo period. I wonder if there would be a high percentage of Christians in Japan if that it didn't happen like that.

A lot of _Christians_ follow Christian customs without knowing, or at least caring about, the actual meanings. Specifically the holidays.

I think there are far more religious people in Japan than statistics say there are, especially Christians. Cultists have soured peoples views on Religion in general over there, so most fearing of being seen as nails that stick out, choose to class themselves as Atheists or Buddhists, which is much more socially acceptable in an extremely conformist country like Japan.

Hi , Am Ric. My Filipina friend is living in Fukuoka , Japanese husband died years back. she has 2 grown up boys. Where or can you recommend a full gospel church near fukuoka El passo harumachi. Appreciate you're suggestions. Thanks

Personally Japan’s really laid-back mindset towards religion is almost what drives me to want to move there really. I have found that oftentimes religion holds people back from their full potential on earth and causes more problems than good, like wars, dissensions etc, here in america I feel like religion is becoming our ultimate downfall, religion (in my opinion) oftentimes keeps societies from moving forward or prospering greatly. Also I say this personally myself being a believer in Christianity. I find a lot of arrogance among many other people who claim to be Christians here in america. I believe God does not want us to be arrogant. When people become arrogant over God or the things they believe, thats when I define it as religion. While personally i believe the basic fundamentals of Christianity (Jesus is God, he died and rose again etc) i think God reveals himself in his own way to every person whether they believe or dont believe. He never forces himself onto people like religious people would have us to believe. Ultimately in the Bible Jesus was crucified by religious people because he called out how they’d choose religion over humanity and they hated him. Thats what i feel like is happening in America right now. I think people need the real Jesus that loves people instead of the picture religion has painted about God, the less religion the better 👍. So thats one reason i really like Japanese culture 😁

Orthodox Churches in Japan are so beautiful, love from Russia 🇷🇺🤝🇯🇵

Japan is not the only one that has fused multiple religions into their culture. You could see that in some Caribbean nations, such as Guyana.

Am Christian but i do respect Japanese people for their religious opinions and I still like Japanese people just and everyone around world 🗺️ just like Jesus showing love to everyone so amen ✝️

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 NIV

Japanese people celebrate Christmas, but the Christian population there is not even one percent, 0.1% to be exact.

As a Catholic I cannot mix Christianity with any other non-motheistic reason especially polytheistic like Shinto. So I am not allowed to visit any Shinto Shrine because it's part of a polytheistic religion.

Japanese people aren’t atheist, it’s a miscommunication to do with the interpretation of the word. When Japanese people say they’re atheist they mean they are non religious. The overwhelming majority of Japanese believe in a spiritual side of life and some form of afterlife.

It could be worse. I am fortunate to know several Japanese Christian’s actively attending church, as I attend with them (the service is in Japanese) 🇯🇵 God blessed me to get to live in this fascinating land.

Saint Nikolai pray for us! The discipline and reverence the Japanese exhibit everyday is a beautiful reflection of ancient temple worship, and even Wabi Sabi seems to be a reflection of both humble saintly life, and modest family life. I pray for our Japanese brothers for if Orthodox Christianity were to succeed in the far East, it would flourish and I believe lead to a cultural Renaissance and population boom. It certainly combat the growing irreverence of immigrants and aimless gen Alpha. Glory to God in the highest!

No wonder japanese are way ahead than others

I think people today hear what they want to hear.

It should also be noted that the 62% atheist stat is actually 62% self-identified as not a member of a religion, which is important to note because in Japan(according to Wikipedia) membership of a religion usually refers to the clergy/priesthood or monks/nuns of that religion. So, naturally, the percentages of the population self-identifying as members of certain religions will be lower the actual percentages of the population that practice and/or believe them, and the percentage of the population that self-identifies as "no religion" will be higher than the actual percentage of the population that is truly atheist.

It's hard to believe that at one point Japan have about a millions Christians but then Japan became an isolate state and ban christianity in the 16th century

shito is you're ancistry don't give up your ancestors and your identity for tourister's culture❤

Love this. Pick what you like and want to do and don't worry about its origins

I went to japan few month ago ,they so proud about their faith

Kind of sad seeing crazy religious folks invading the comment section saying all who do not believe in their religion or conform to their ideas are evil. I think cultural and religious diversity is a nice thing to have.

Shinto gang ! ⬇️

We Japanese celebrate every region.

They are the definition of tolerance and openness, they are good people who are faithful to prayer. But from another perspective, Indirectly, openness is the same as trivializing religion, they don't really understand its meaning.

Jesus Christ is the only way

Japanese people should valorize the shintoism traditions and the religion itself, they don't necessarly need to be christian, they absolutely need to prioritize their own culture!.

Wedding like Christains Funeral like Buddhist New year like Shinto What is going on?

I think it's an aspect of Shintoism, which just absorbs everything into it's "pantheon".

So 1% of Japanese are ✝️ meeting they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ

It is sad, to think they just pick and choose what suits them, I pray that more come to desire to seek the truth

Actually in Japan 99% people are shinto. Many people follow Hindu bhuddhist principles and some Christian philosphy along with their original culture Shintoism. Just like in India many Hindus follow Bhuddhism and Jainism principles also. Gautam Bhuddha is our history. When it comes to Christian wedding, Christmas and other things then it's all due to trend and western effect otherwise both Indians and Japanese still follow their traditional religion.

Very cool and thought-provoking

They should definitely practice their native religions like Shinto and Buddhism. I just think it’s beautiful when countries, or a group of people, practice their native religion.

Japanese people should not ignore their own religion shintoism, they should do all shinto practices in proper way without mixing them with abrahamic traditions

My view is that Japanese people believe what they want to believe. They are perfectly happy to celebrate religious events, but only on their terms (which tend to be superficial). I suspect most Japanese are polytheistic and believe a mishmash of things, which means a single person can be buddhist _and_ shintoist _and_ very superficially Christian _and_ whatever else is fashionable at the moment. Personally, I think it's a healthy way of accepting multiple religions.

Hope they stop blindly following something because it's mainstream & becoming slave to their desire. They need to learn more in pursuit of the truth.

Pray for Japan, India, China (and all of Asia)! Let’s show Japan the love of Christ!

Japanese people should learn more about King Jesus Christ,they just need to open their hearts and don't be afraid to love the king of kings and the lord of lords and that is King Jesus Christ,he is the Trinity❤😊

As a Euroopean Buddhist, I like going to church and singing hymns. But I prefer meditation and retreats. I started thinking in a more "Japanese" way about religions when I became a Buddhist.

I’m a Gothic Christian who lives in California I Respect Atheists Buddhist’s Shinto or Hindu or Islam or other ones you believe and also 🙏🏻 and My God Bless You

سبحان الله وبحمده عدد خلقه ورضا نفسه وزنه عرشه ومداد كلماته ❤ مسلم ❤ تحياتي الى اخوني المسيح

Halloween "proceeds to show anime cosplays"

Awsome✝️

Halloween isn’t a Christian holiday although I’m now an atheist I wasn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween growing because of my parents Christianity.

Kinda interesting

I pray for more Japanese to come to the feet of Jesus, however if shrines or other customs don't Glorify God then more Japanese disciples of Christ should stand up and preach the word and not be afraid of offending, but still understanding that if certain traditions or symbolism offends God the Gospel shall still remain and narrow is the way , but very few know it and it's Jesus Christ. Iesu Kirisuto. Yeshua . Adonai. Cristo Jesus. Jehova. Etc etc

I love the Japanese 🇯🇵 culture as an English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 man. Japanese culture is the only culture that resembles my very own culture.

Yeah, Christmas is definitely just a commercial holiday in Japan, they don't even get the day off work for it.

No I don't want to lose Japanese culture

_Seek the Lord, while he is able to be found. Call upon him, while he is near._ Isaiah 55,6

sad to hear about people going through motions they don’t understand.

Japanese people enjoy activities from various religions, even if they don't fully understand the reasons behind them. It comes from a historical mindset in Japan. There was a time when Buddhism and Shinto were the two major religions in Japan. Instead of eliminating one, they chose to combine both, or rather, to let them co-exist. In Japanese culture, people typically don't hate or try to convince others to change their religious beliefs. They accept different practices and celebrate life, regardless of the religious rituals involved.

Buddhist=Atheist

Bring God to Japan!!!

Japanese people (I thing) decided to make their old religions their part of culture. That's why lot of people (i guess) joining religius celebrities or stuff

I have started watching 4K walking tours through different cities in Japan. I started picking people out of the crowd and praying for them. And I feel as though there is going to be a great revival in that land.

Bruh don’t count the halloween as Christian event smh

I believe Christmas is a religious holiday at it's core. You should have some kind of spiritual christian belief, otherwise you shouldn't run around making a big deal over a holiday that has no more religious significance to you than valentine's day

Yes I was in japan twenty years ago. I was a missionary and I still have a heart to serve the lord and go back to japan one day I spent twenty years in taiwan and they just moved back to the state seven months ago There was a woman who prayed for me at my Japanese church. She said I couldn't come back until I was married I'm not married yet, but I still have a heart for the Japanese. I still learned japanese on my own When I was 818, the Lord told me. I had to learn japanese korean in chinese fluently I'm a long-term missionary it's what studied I still have a heart for asia. There's not a day but I don't miss going back to japan

we hold weddings at chapel,not church

I am Indian Christian but I wish to vist Japan once in my life time such a beautiful place 😄😄

Jesus bless Japanese ❤️❤️ 🇯🇵

Christian missionaries in the comments🗿🗿

What speaks to me about Japanese people is that they are open to the truth of who Jesus really is and what He did because of their simple way of wanting to fit in and not be different due to historical events where Japanese people were oppressed about their religious views which dates back to very harsh and horrible repercussions for claiming to be followers of Jesus such as public executions and torture, even to torture little children who believed in Christ, that is now why we see people of Japan so open to religion because in their past it has been a big oppression

Good that Oda Nobunaga stopped christianity hundreds of years ago, or our unique culture would disappear. World needs more Japanese beliefs.

I love you jesus

I am planning a trip to Japan and this is good information to know. I have also watched a few tutorials on the things NOT to do. I am interested in knowing and respecting the culture of Japan.

Well religion is defined very christocentric. Some Christians even say that Buddhism isn’t a religion at all. Still the Japanese society is influenced by Buddhism and if they practice Buddhism by visiting Buddhist temples I wouldn’t say they are a-religious (atheism makes no sense in this regards because Buddhism itself is a non-theistic religion). I find it highly interesting how religion manifests non-Christian countries and how religion shapes these societies differently than Christianity

i wish Japanese people start following dharmic Shinto Buddhists. oh Buddha and phra narai pls bless Japanese people and give them sense to become dharmic and leave abrahimic 🙏🕉️☸️☸️

If you are Japanese or in an area that is very heavy with nonbelievers, then hear me out. I decided i would pray every single day at least once, for an amazing testimony to share with people. In my heart, i believed i would have kept praying for the rest of my life, if i had too. So after 8 months or so, God gave an AMAZING testimony that is very real... Then, that event strengthened my faith to the point that i started getting amazing prayers answered very often because i quit doubting... and was alinged with the Bibles instructions. Then, i started copying and pasting my testimony all over these KZfaq comment sections and sharing it with people id meet... Im telling you, it adds up and sharing your testimony gets easy to do... Especially if its online. THIS way of reaching the masses is so effective and easy...

Portuguese were the ones who introduced christianity to Japan. A nation of warriors and explorers 🇵🇹 ⚔️

Way to go guys, can we get to 2%?

Sort of unrelated but I know a couple of Korean Christians I work with. Just looked it up and in South Korea it is 29% Christian. This is sort of surprising to me because I feel America has stronger ties to Japan than Korea.