Japan

Though Japan has traditionally been a very closed society, increasingly it has become open to global influences, has seen a large number of Japanese [Page 615]living elsewhere in the world, and has become the home of waves of non-Japanese workers living on its shores. Since other entries in this encyclopedia cover the Japanese religions of Shinto, Pure Land Buddhism, Zen, Soka Gakkai, and new religions in Japan, this entry will focus on the religious culture of Japanese abroad and on non-ethnic Japanese living in Japan.

According to official statistics by the Japan Immigration Association, as of the end of 2006 there are 2,084,919 registered foreigners living in Japan, which is 1.63% of the total population of 128 million. Among them, the Koreans (approximately 598,000, 28.7%), Chinese ...