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 Japan
is a country made up of a number of islands in the northern Pacific
Ocean off the Asian mainland. From the 7th century onward
the country absorbed Chinese culture, including Buddhism, which
became and remained for many centuries the religion of the majority
of the people, although Shinto and Confucianism have always been
important too. Zen, the contemplative branch of Japanese
Buddhism, had a profound influence on the arts especially painting,
calligraphy, gardening and flower arranging. Dogen, probably the most
brilliant and creative Japanese thinker, was a Buddhist monk.
Buddhism was disestablished in 1870 and since then it has struggled
to make itself relevant to Japan's dynamic consumer society. See
Shotoku. |
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