先祖と、自分より大きなものへの畏敬という点で、おれは日本人だなあ、と思う。
日本語
72% irreligious; 56% believe in supernatural
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Seventy-two percent of Japanese do not have any specific religious affiliation, but many still believe in supernatural forces, according to a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey.
According to the survey, 26 percent of respondents said they believed in a religion, virtually unchanged from a similar survey conducted three years ago. Only 37 percent said religion was important for living a happy life.
Views of people's religious sentiment were split, with 45 percent of respondents saying Japanese had little religious faith while 49 percent thought otherwise.
However, 94 percent of respondents said they respected their ancestors, and 56 percent claimed to have had some form of supernatural experience.
The results suggested that many Japanese feel little affinity to a particular religion, but many do harbor feelings of respect for things that are scientifically unproven.
The Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed 3,000 randomly selected people across the country face-to-face on May 17-18, of whom 1,837 gave valid answers.
Asked about what happens to people's spirits after they die, 30 percent said they believed they would be reincarnated, 24 percent said they would go to another world and 18 percent answered they would vanish.
The recent popularity of new forms of spirituality and other new age-related beliefs, such as an interest in previous lives and guardian angels, was particularly prominent among female respondents. Although 21 percent of all respondents said they were interested in such thinking--far below the 75 percent who were not--27 percent of women saw the appeal of such beliefs, whereas only 13 percent of men said they felt this way.
To the question about what should be taught as religious education at school, 71 percent said students should be taught about "respect for life and nature," 31 percent said "histories of major religions," and 21 percent selected "the meaning of religion" and "tolerance for people of other faiths." Only 7 percent preferred not to have religion taught at school.
Respondents were allowed to give more than one answer to this question.
Views on religious groups were somewhat standoffish, with 47 percent saying these groups' activities were unclear, and 43 percent believing they use fear-mongering and other aggressive approaches to disseminate their beliefs. Thirty-six percent said they felt these groups were good at raising large amounts of money.
These three answers occupied the top three slots to the same question in Yomiuri surveys in May 1998 and August 2005.
読売(May. 31, 2008)
日本語
宗教「信じない」７割、「魂は生まれ変わる」３割…読売調査
5月29日23時41分配信 読売新聞
読売新聞社が１７、１８日に実施した年間連続調査「日本人」で、何かの宗教を信じている人は２６％にとどまり、信じていない人が７２％に上ることがわかった。
ただ、宗派などを特定しない幅広い意識としての宗教心について聞いたところ、「日本人は宗教心が薄い」と思う人が４５％、薄いとは思わない人が４９％と見方が大きく割れた。また、先祖を敬う気持ちを持っている人は９４％に達し、「自然の中に人間の力を超えた何かを感じることがある」という人も５６％と多数を占めた。
多くの日本人は、特定の宗派からは距離を置くものの、人知を超えた何ものかに対する敬虔(けいけん)さを大切に考える傾向が強いようだ。
調査は「宗教観」をテーマに面接方式で実施した。
死んだ人の魂については、「生まれ変わる」が３０％で最も多く、「別の世界に行く」２４％、「消滅する」１８％－－がこれに続いた。
