While reading about Shunko Tashiro of the Vihara Movement, I came across this text and this news around the same time. A very interesting context of why Buddhism survives in Japan?
A common saying familiar to most Japanese is, "Born Shinto, die Buddhist." The native Japanese religion of Shinto is a religion of "life and light," whose written tradition regards death as the most polluting and contagious taboo. As a result, it does not deal with death and dying (Lai 1983). Buddhism, which has been a part of Japanese culture for thirteen hundred years, functions to fill this social need by providing funeral and memorial rituals.
Buddhists in Japan have not been socially active in the medical arena except for committing themselves to performing funeral rituals. Whether they like it or not, they have won for themselves the title funeral Buddhism. This role is confirmed by Buddhism's near monopoly over funeral services for Japanese people of all religions.