There are so many fascinating/insightful things in this reply.
I knew that China's governmental bureaucracy had adopted Confucianism for a good part of that country's history, but I was a bit fuzzy on the extent to which it showed up in Japan. Likewise, I wasn't quite sure how much Buddhism and Shintoism overlap with or are used in government in various times.
I'm curious about the extent to which Christian mythology is present in Japanese anime and video games. I know I was exaggerating slightly about Christianity being almost nonexistent in Japan, but for a few years there, I saw Yuna's entire pilgrimage, the church of Yevon, and Seymour being interpreted exclusively through the lens of Catholicism (that whole "atone for your sins" notion), with Seymour as a Christ figure (because of the way he falls down when he dies), and Seymour/Tidus/Yuna as a Holy Trinity (which is a bizarre analogy, since they don't map to father/son/holy ghost all that well). I've tended to overcompensate in the other direction, trying to look for Buddhist/Shinto details instead.
The clash of old vs. young, the older generation vs. youth is fascinating. I was picking up some glimmers of that from 3/11, but most of the news I've seen out of Japan lately seems to be sabre-rattling, for the first time in my lifetime.
Mrgh. Dunno where I was going with this; the heat/humidity is turning my brain to jelly. But anyway, thank you for all the insights from someone who knows the culture!
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I knew that China's governmental bureaucracy had adopted Confucianism for a good part of that country's history, but I was a bit fuzzy on the extent to which it showed up in Japan. Likewise, I wasn't quite sure how much Buddhism and Shintoism overlap with or are used in government in various times.
I'm curious about the extent to which Christian mythology is present in Japanese anime and video games. I know I was exaggerating slightly about Christianity being almost nonexistent in Japan, but for a few years there, I saw Yuna's entire pilgrimage, the church of Yevon, and Seymour being interpreted exclusively through the lens of Catholicism (that whole "atone for your sins" notion), with Seymour as a Christ figure (because of the way he falls down when he dies), and Seymour/Tidus/Yuna as a Holy Trinity (which is a bizarre analogy, since they don't map to father/son/holy ghost all that well). I've tended to overcompensate in the other direction, trying to look for Buddhist/Shinto details instead.
The clash of old vs. young, the older generation vs. youth is fascinating. I was picking up some glimmers of that from 3/11, but most of the news I've seen out of Japan lately seems to be sabre-rattling, for the first time in my lifetime.
Mrgh. Dunno where I was going with this; the heat/humidity is turning my brain to jelly. But anyway, thank you for all the insights from someone who knows the culture!