Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
RELIGION IN JAPAN
The native religion of Japan is Shintou, an indigenous folk religion that finds spirits abounding in nature. There is no formal creed, or indeed much of any philosophy behind it. It basically allows followers a way of currying favour with various gods so as to receive good luck. Even today, many older Japanese will, when walking past a shrine, turn and bow to the spirits within.
Mahayana Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th century. Over the centuries, it grew in prestige and divided into sects. Today, the most well-known forms of Japanese Buddhism are Souka Gakkai - the quasi political religious group that has significant political clout – and Zen Buddhism.
Shintou and Buddhism have a long and intertwined history in Japan, and it is only in the past hundred years or so that they have been separated. Even today things can be confusing, as the design of Shintou shrines and Buddhist temples can look very much alike. The key tip: If there's a torii (a large, two-legged arch) standing at the entrance of the grounds, it's a Shintou shrine; if not, it's a Buddhist temple.
A visit to a shrine first involves the visitor washing his hands and mouth at a pool in front of the shrine. Then he will make an offering of money, ring the gong, bow twice, clap twice and bow twice more.
To an outsider's eyes, there are a few differences with regards to religion as it is practised in Japan. The most obvious is that in Japan it is perfectly permissible - indeed, almost expected - that people can be both Buddhist and Shintoist at the same time. Many Japanese, for example, will get married in a Shintou ceremony, but will have Buddhist rites at their funerals.
In fact, many Japanese seem to avoid people who appear overtly religious. Occasionally you will meet a proselytiser of some religion on the street, but in general, people seem to think that that kind of behaviour is reserved for cult members. People have strong memories of the cult that killed and injured so many people on the Tokyo underground system with toxic sarin gas in 1995, and find anyone who is not moderate in his religion a little unsettling.
Performing dispassionate, ritualistic acts is line, I suppose, but many Japanese cannot begin to fathom those who take strong moral stands. So much of Japanese society is geared towards enjoying oneself that there seems to be no appetite left for considering intangible issues. As one Japanese told me when I expressed an appreciation in the aesthetics of Zen, "I can't do it. It's just too hard." This attitude may go a long way in explaining why non-Japanese friends of mine who were so interested in Buddhism wound up criticising Japan as a religiously dead society.
Shinto, the native religion of Japan, has ______.
