“Buddha in the Land of the Kami” is a historical fiction film that covers a lot of the culture and religion of the Japanese and the ideas that got passed onto them from their surrounding cultures. The first thing the film discusses is their beliefs in the Kami.
The movie states that the Japanese call their home “Land of the Rising Sun” because of brother and sister Kami; the Kami of fire and the hot headed male Kami. There was a war between them and the Kami of fire locked herself inside her heaven cave and would not come out. This resulted in constant night. The brother derived a plan to trick her into coming out. He held a mirror towards her to bring her out. Then as soon as she came out, they locked her doors with a huge rope called a …show more content…
According to our notes, in the 6th century, Buddhism arrived in Japan. The Japanese believed that the Kami were generous spirits that allowed Buddhism to be taught in Japan. However, by the 7th century, the prince Shitoku came into power. He was a young man who liked the Chinese culture, and he accepted Buddhism as their official religion. This is how the two religions became combined. The Kami and Buddha were accepted by each other and they associated with each other. Our book speaks of the temples that were built in Nara after the Korean model. They also had a mix of Shinto religion. The goal of this religion was to learn the wishes of the Kami. The Kami was still worshiped, but the Buddha was viewed as the ruler of the …show more content…
They planted this in a grid like pattern. However, the book tells us on page 351, that Japan is a very mountainous and difficult to farm. There is only about 20% of their land that is good for cultivation. Their religion is even in their agriculture. I found it interesting that the Kami protected the rice. They watched over the crop, harvest, and made sure that the rice could be sold. However, I couldn’t find that same information in any of the other resources. The Kami began to inhabit temples called Inari. The most fascinating part was that foxes were the Kami’s messengers. The popular belief was that the foxes had incredible abilities to transform themselves into witches and bewitched people; they could also travel fast and invisible. These foxes guarded the temples of Inari and they were gentle and cared for the ones that they were there to
The movie states that the Japanese call their home “Land of the Rising Sun” because of brother and sister Kami; the Kami of fire and the hot headed male Kami. There was a war between them and the Kami of fire locked herself inside her heaven cave and would not come out. This resulted in constant night. The brother derived a plan to trick her into coming out. He held a mirror towards her to bring her out. Then as soon as she came out, they locked her doors with a huge rope called a …show more content…
According to our notes, in the 6th century, Buddhism arrived in Japan. The Japanese believed that the Kami were generous spirits that allowed Buddhism to be taught in Japan. However, by the 7th century, the prince Shitoku came into power. He was a young man who liked the Chinese culture, and he accepted Buddhism as their official religion. This is how the two religions became combined. The Kami and Buddha were accepted by each other and they associated with each other. Our book speaks of the temples that were built in Nara after the Korean model. They also had a mix of Shinto religion. The goal of this religion was to learn the wishes of the Kami. The Kami was still worshiped, but the Buddha was viewed as the ruler of the …show more content…
They planted this in a grid like pattern. However, the book tells us on page 351, that Japan is a very mountainous and difficult to farm. There is only about 20% of their land that is good for cultivation. Their religion is even in their agriculture. I found it interesting that the Kami protected the rice. They watched over the crop, harvest, and made sure that the rice could be sold. However, I couldn’t find that same information in any of the other resources. The Kami began to inhabit temples called Inari. The most fascinating part was that foxes were the Kami’s messengers. The popular belief was that the foxes had incredible abilities to transform themselves into witches and bewitched people; they could also travel fast and invisible. These foxes guarded the temples of Inari and they were gentle and cared for the ones that they were there to