Do Japanese People belong to any particular religion?
English follows Bahasa Indonesia.
Apakah Masyarakat Jepang Beragama?
Akhir-akhir ini sering terdengar argumen dari netizen bahwa bangsa Jepang itu tidak beragama. Apakah betul mereka tidak beragama? Pada studi penelitian sebelumnya, saya membahas tentang ritual keagamaan orang Jepang. Jadi, meskipun belum ahli, saya masih bisa menulis argumen saya ini dengan data-data yang akurat pada waktu penelitian saya dibuat.
Orang Jepang justru beragama ganda. Ritual-ritual kelahiran mereka diupacarai secara Shinto. Orang Jepang juga turut merayakan Natal. Namun pada saat meninggal malah dikremasi (tradisi Hindu-Budha). Survey dari religionfacts(dot)com tahun 2016 berhasil mengumpulkan data bahwa di Jepang, jumlah pemeluk Shinto sebesar 83.9%, Budha 71.4%, Kristen sebanyak 2%, dan lain-lain sebanyak 7.8%. Ini menunjukkan bahwa jumlah pemeluk agama di Jepang melebihi 100%. Jadi orang Jepang memeluk agama ganda. Di rumah orang Jepang juga sering ditemukan kamidana (altar pemujaan Shinto) bersandingan dengan butsudan (altar pemujaan Budha). Hal ini disebabkan oleh doktrin Shinto yang lebih concern kepada kehidupan, sedangkan orang Jepang mencari jawaban tentang kematian ke agama Budha. Shinto cares for the life, and Buddhism cares for the death. Menurut saya, orang Jepang itu ibaratnya mana-mana diikuti yang penting selamat.
Kemudian, muncul pertanyaan. Apakah Shinto itu termasuk agama? Nah ini jawabannya ada dua pendapat. Bisa ya, bisa tidak. Karena Shinto tidak punya kitab? Tidak punya nabi. Mungkin ini adalah pemikiran yang cenderung berat sebelah. Maksudnya menentukan status agama dari pemikiran beberapa golongan saja. Apakah syaratnya menjadi sebuah agama yang diakui masyarakat? Apakah harus seperti agama-agama Abrahamik?
Ada yang berkata bahwa Shinto tidak termasuk agama karena tidak punya Tuhan. Keyakinan Shinto bersifat atheis. Lalu apabila tidak punya Tuhan, umatnya beriman kepada siapa? Bukankah tidak ada gunanya beribadah kalau tidak dipersembahkan kepada Tuhan? Sayangnya, di Shinto itu tidak mempunyai konsep Tuhan tertinggi yang menguasai jagat raya. Berbeda dengan di Islam, tidak ada Tuhan selain Allah SWT. Di Kristen, meskipun ada trinitas, Siapakah Tuhan tertinggi? Allah. Di Hindu, meskipun ada Brahma, Wisnu, Siwa, tetap Wisnu (the preserver) adalah Tuhan tertinggi yang menguasai seluruh jagat raya.
Shinto tidak punya kitab? Perlu diketahui bahwa ritual-ritual keagamaan Shinto berasal dari Kojiki dan Nihon Shoki. Dua tradisi lisan dalam folklor Jepang yang telah dibukukan.
Shinto tidak punya nabi. Sejauh ini saya belum mendengar nama manusia tertentu yang dalam Shinto dianggap seperti nabi Muhammad SAW dalam Islam, Jesus dalam agama Kristen, Kongzi dalam agama Konghucu, atau Shri Ram dan Shri Krishna dalam agama Hindu. Mungkin karena inilah Shinto tidak dianggap sebagai agama.
Jika memang masyarakat Jepang tidak beragama, maka dari dulu tidak akan ada kosakata kamisama (神様) yang berarti Tuhan; God; deity (yang dituhankan) dalam kamus. Atau kata shukyou (宗教) yang berarti agama atau kepercayaan. Maka dapat kita tarik kesimpulan, bahwa masyarakat Jepang itu beragama. Namun emosi keagamaan dari masing-masing pemeluk agama yang pasti berbeda satu sama lain. Juga tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa pelaksanaan ritual dalam kehidupan sehari-hari akan cenderung beragam.
Do Japanese People belong to any particular religion?
Recently, we have been hearing arguments among netizens that Japanese people do not belong to any particular religion. Is that true? Last year I conducted research for my bachelor thesis about Japanese religious rites. So, even though I am not an expert, I am able to explain my argument based on accurate data at the time my thesis was being written.
Japanese people belong to more than one religion. They perform birth rites in Shinto way. Japanese also celebrate Christmas. Yet, for the funeral, they prefer cremation which is tradition of Hinduism-Buddhism. A survey from religionfacts(dot)com in 2016 has successfully collected data that in Japan, the number of Shinto worshipper was 83.9%, Buddhist worshipper was 71.4%, Christian was 2%, and others was 7.8%.
It shows that the number of worshipper in Japan exceeded 100 per cent of all population. So, Japanese belongs to double religions. We often found kamidana (Shinto’s altar for worshipping kami) is put next to butsudan (Buddhist’s altar) in Japanese houses. This is caused by doctrine in Shintoism which concerns more to life, while Japanese are seeking answers about death to Buddhism. Shinto cares for the life, and Buddhism cares for the death. In my opinion, Japanese worship all of them, for the sake of salvation.
Then, one question comes to mind. Is Shinto considered as religion? The answer could be both yes, and no since there are still debates among scholars regarding the status of Shinto as religion. Because Shinto has no scriptures. There is no prophet. Perhaps, this is one-sided thinking to judge the status of religiosity based on the way of thinking of few group of people. What actually are the requirements to admit it as religion? Has it to be like Abrahamic ones?
One said that Shinto is not religion as it has no God. Shinto is atheism. Well, if Shinto had no God, where do the worshippers present the worship to? Do you think that your worship will get meaning when you have no God to believe? Unfortunately, Shintoism does not have the conception of the supreme God who rules the entire universe. Unlike Islam which has Allah, the one and only God who rules the entire universe. In Christianity, even though it has trinity, who is the supreme God? Allah. In Hinduism, there are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Yet, the supreme God is Vishnu, the preserver.
Shinto has scriptures. It is necessary to know that rites in Shinto came from Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Two oral traditions in Japanese folklore that have been recorded into book.
There is no prophet in Shinto. Until today, I haven’t heard about one certain human who in Shinto is considered as prophet, just like Mohammed PBUH in Islam, Jesus in Christianity, Kongzi in Confucianism, or Shri Ram and Shri Krishna in Hinduism. It might be the reason why Shinto is not considered as religion.
If Japanese had not belonged to any religion at all, so the word kamisama (神様) which is in dictionary translated as God; Lord; deity. would never have existed. Or the word shukyou (宗教), which means religion or belief. So, we may conclude the topic by saying that Japanese society has religions. However, the religious emotions among worshippers are different one to another. In addition, we need to know that these rites in reality may be various in certain areas.
