Abstract:
One of the great scholars, Matsuo mentioned in his book ‘A History of Japanese
Buddhism’, religion has a healing effect like morphine for the sick, for those who
face distress and difficulty in their lives and have been hurt. Among Asian countries,
particularly in Japan, Buddhism is practiced in their own way with a culture of their
own. Buddhism has influenced Japanese culture in many ways. Most of the existing
literature that deal with the subject are either too concentrated and descriptive or too
superficial and concise on the importance of historical facts related to religious and
cultural history in Japan and a historical study on how Buddhism developed in each
era in Japan. This study attempts to recognize how Buddhism and other various
philosophies impacted the culture of Japan, and how Buddhism shaped people’s lives
to make a change in their attitudes, behavior, and character. The research gap is from
the Nara Period (A.D. 710-784) to the Kamakura Period (A.D.1185-1333). The
enquiry is based on primary and secondary data, and the primary data is collected
through the primary sources, the Kojiki. Secondary data is obtained from both
published sources and articles. Conclusive evidence brings to light that Buddhism
and other philosophies, including Confucianism and Zen, have greatly contributed to
the progress of Japanese people’s attitudes, behavior patterns, personality and
characters which one can still see in the remnants of Buddhist influence seeping
through many practices in the modern Japan. Hence, the available data strongly
indicates that Buddhism and other philosophies introduced from China have
remarkably influenced Japan socially, economically, religiously, and culturally.