Throughout the history of Japan, foreign religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism have been introduced. These three religions have had their share of successes as well as failures. However, the fates of these religions have completely different endings due to conflicting beliefs of religious men and the presence of political influence.

Buddhism arrived in Japan around the 6th century. It was brought by Korean immigrants who wanted to escape fighting in their homeland. However, the religion did not spread throughout the country. It finally came to the attention of the Japanese people because a Prince named Shotoku thought he could use it as a tool to make the Koreans follow him. Shotuko had temples constructed where people could practice Buddhism. In the late 7th century when Temmu came to the throne, he wanted to re-establish the native Japanese religion called Shinto. His decision was not because he thought Shinto was the correct religion, he just wanted to end the influence of a foreign culture. For the next several centuries, Buddhism would fall in and out of favor with political le

As time went on, Buddhism manifested into several new forms because men who were truly religious believed they found new and better ways to become enlightened. For example, Ten-tai Buddhism was a form of Buddhism that said meditation was the way to obtain enlightenment. In contrast to Ten-tai, Pure Land Buddhism said that a person only needs to recite the Nembutsu to obtain salvation, and meditation was unnecessary. The formation of new Buddhist sects aided in the success of the religion. People could choose which form of Buddhism they wanted to follow, thus allowing the religion to spread throughout Japan.

aders who looked for ways to gain power and control of Japan.

The abolishment of Christianity and the forcing of Buddhist practices was a result of a new religious influence called Neo-Confucianism. The Tokugawa government didn't care for the theories and value system of this new religion, but they were concerned with the organizational power that surrounded it. Neo- Confucianism said that, "there is a rational principle in the universe, and this principle works in the material world to give rise to human beings and all things."(1). The Tokugawa took this Neo-Confuc

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Approximate Word count = 800
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)