The popularity of Goshuin stamps and visits to spiritual spots like shrines and temples is not a show of faith, experts say, but instead suggests people feel an affinity for the traditions without a need to be deeply involved. Some compare the stamp collecting to a blessed version of baseball cards.
hahaha I’d never visit random places just for collectible nonsense. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to drive all over town playing Pokemon Go.
I mean the shrines are like beautiful tiny parks mixed in evenly with the rest of the urban structures, even in the middle of downtown Tokyo. It’s easy to see how people would be drawn to them, even if they know nothing about the religion.
In Japan, the boundaries between secular and religious are drawn differently than in the world of the Abrahamic religions. For example, both Buddhism and Shintō are practiced by the same people, at different times, with neither being a totalising religious identity like, for example, Christianity or Islam. Meanwhile, it has also been fashionable at times in Japan to have European-style church weddings; in a world where Buddhism and Shintō mix freely, throwing a dash of Christianity into the mix doesn’t seem out of the question.
Yeah same with Chinese communities too, just replace Shinto with Taoism.
I mean you dont have to be religious to appreciate the stuff religion makes. Giant temples, cathedrals, towers , statues and such.
Shrines just capitalize on the japanese tendancy to “collect” stuff.
Fascinating culture. I have a ton of respect for the Japanese.
