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Japan

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КУРСОВА РАБОТА

Дисциплина: Религия и международни отношения

Япония

Изготвил: Преподавател: Деян Миланов Петров гл. ас. д-р Иван Начев | | F76061

2015

1. Географско положение на Япония

Япония е островна държава, разположена край бреговете на Азия. Състои се от голяма поредица от острови наподобяващи дъга, която се простира на около 1500 мили (2400 километра) в западната част на Северна Тихия океан. Почти цялата площ на Япония е заета от четири основни острова; от север на юг това са Хокайдо, Хоншу, Шикоку и Кюшу. Хоншу е най-големият от четирите, следван по размер от Хокайдо, Кюшу и Шикоку. В допълнение, съществуват множество по-малки острови, най-големите групи от които са Рюкю (включително остров Окинава) на юг и на запад от Кюшу и Изу, Бонин. Столицата на Япония е Токио. Япония е една от най-гъсто населените градове в света.

2. Религии в Япония
Религията и традицията в Япония са взаимно свързани от самото създаване на държавата. За разлика от Европа, където християнството преборва местните езически традиции – в Япония шинтоизмът продължава да се развива като съществена част от живота на хората от най-ранните дни на организирана държава до модерните времена.
Когато будизмът е въведен в Япония през 6 век, шинтоизмът и будистките вярвания започват да си взаимодействат. Това е същностната характеристика на японска религия. Най-ярък пример на това взаимодействие е теорията, в която „шинто ками“ са разглеждани като въплъщения на будистките божества.
Конфуцианството и даоизма са две други религиозни "вноса", които са изиграли важна роля в страната в продължение на повече от 1000 години. Конфуцианските заповеди са оказали съществено влияние върху японската етична и политическа философия в период на формиране на японската държава (6-ти до 9 век), и отново през периода Едо (1603-1868). По-трудно да се проследи влиянието на даоизма в Япония.

2.1 Шинтоизъм

Думата Шинто, която често се превежда като "пътят на боговете", е написана с два китайски йероглифи. Първият знак „ками“, когато се използва самостоятелно, означава "Бог", "божество", или "божествена сила", а вторият символ означава "път". \
Същността на шинтоизмът е японската преданост към невидими духовни същества и сили, наречени ками, както и извършването на различни ритуали. Шинтоизмът не е начин да се обясни на света. От значение са ритуалите, които дават възможност на хората да общуват с „ками“.
Ками не са Бог или богове. Те са духове, които се занимават с човешки същества - те ценят човешкият интерес към тях и искат от хората да бъдат щастливи - и ако те се отнасят правилно, ками ще се намесят в живота им за да им донесат ползи като здраве, бизнес успехи и т.н.

2.2 Будизъм
С произход от Индия около 5 век пр.н.е., будизмът се разпространява от Китай през 2-та и 3-ти век сл. Хр. и след това достигна до Япония през Корея в средата на 6 век, когато цар Паекче изпраща статуя на Буда и копия от сутри до японския император.
Будизмът се разпространява бързо сред висшите класи, след като влиятелни и пробудистки организации преборват анти-будистки фракции. Шотку (574-622), дава имперска подкрепа за изграждането на големи храмове като Horyuji (в днешна префектура Нара) и се счита за основателят на будизма в Япония.
Император Шому (701-756), приема будизма като официална държавна религия и построява храм в Нара и огромна статуя на Буда. Въпреки това, съвместното съществуване на будизма и шинтоизма продължава. Отговорни за извършването на ритуали за насърчаване на националното благосъстояние са шестте секти в Нара, които доминират в будизма по това време са били предимно академичните и са имали малко влияние върху масовото население. Още в началото на периода Хейан (794-1185) са въведени сектите Тендай и сектата Шингон. Тези две езотерични секти са били най-важните будистки секти в императорския двор.
Имперският ера ограничи своето влияние в края на Втората световна война, когато американците заявиха, че японската национализъм е бил сформиран от нещо наречено "Държавна Шинто".

3. Връзката между шинтоизъм и национализъм

Шинто легенда разказва, че императорите на Япония са потомци една непрекъсната линия, започваща от първия император Джиму Тено, правнук Аматерасу Омиками. Самите японци са потомци на ками, които са присъствали по време на основаването на Япония.
Тази история съдържа много ясно послание, че Япония е стара държава, чийто народ се „спуснат“ от ками. Императорското семейство е по-старо от народа на Япония. То произхожда от ками от по-висок ранг.
Политическото послание на тази история е, че това е пътят на Япония и той трябва да продължи. Нейното оцеляване зависи от поддържането на връзката между императора и народа, и че императорът управлява Япония, защото боговете искат от него да е така.
Преди реставрацията на Мейджи и създаването на „държавата Шинто“, тази история е само един мит сред много.

4. Държавата Шинто
Когато шинтоизмът е реконструиран през 1868 г. на императорската легендата е била преместена в центъра на сцената и Аматерасу, която дотогава е почитана само в някои части на Япония, се превръща бъде най-важният от боговете. Аматетасу има национална роля в новата система „Шинто“ и заради новия си статут е използвана за легитимиране на ролята на императора, не само като владетел, но както първосвещеникът.
Това дава на императора божествено право да управлява не само Япония, но и целия свят.
Това става и официална доктрина, тъй като се смята, че японците са изпратени от боговете и затова се смятат за по-висша раса.

Политическия статут на Императора се променя и той се превръща в мощна фигура. Въпреки, че той е длъжен да спазва закона на земята, в действителност е над него.
От този момент нататък, японските политически, социални, военни и религиозни институции се съсредоточат върху фигурата на императора, който се е превърнал в икона на доброто и святото; самата същност и духа на Япония. Тези идеи се пропагандират силно в японските училища. Тези вярвания, определени в политическата и военната дисциплина от Япония до 1946 г.
Доктрината ‚Шинто“ бива премахната като държавна религия на Япония след края на Втората световна война чрез три основни документа: * Директивата за Премахване на държавна Шинто (1945 г.) * Отказване от божествения произход на императора (1946 г.) * Следвоенната конституция
Трите документа спомагат за „пречистването“ на ритуалите, тъй като тяхната цел е да се възстанови чистота на религия, която е била замърсена от политически действия.
Първият от тези документи е един от най-мощните съвременни осъждането на злоупотребата с религията. Целта на директивата не е да унищожи Шинто, но да:
В днешни дни хората търсят подкрепата на боговете като се молят пред домашният олтар или чрез посещение в храмове. Цяла гама от талисмани са на разположение в храмовете: за безопасността на движението, добро здраве, успех в бизнеса, безопасно раждане, добра изпит производителност и повече.
Голяма част от сватбените церемонии се провеждат в Шинто стил. При смърт, обаче, ритуалите се изпълняват чрез будистката традиция. Следователно на практика няма „Шинто гробища“.

5. Влияние
Япония е държава-членка на Организацията на обединените нации и преследва постоянно членство в Съвета за сигурност. Тя е една от страните, които участват в "G-4 ".
Япония играе важна роля в Източна Азия. Японската конституция забранява използването на военни сили да водят война срещу други страни. Въпреки това, правителството има военни сили за отбрана, които включват въздушни, сухопътни и морски компоненти. Като икономическа мощ Япония е член на Г-8 и Азиатско-тихоокеанско икономическо сътрудничество (APEC). Тя е основен донор в усилията на международната помощ и развитие,
Япония има териториални спорове с Русия над Курилските острови (Северни територии), с Южна Корея над Острови Лианкур (известни като "Dokdo" в Корея, "Такешима" в Япония), с Китай и Тайван за островите Сенкаку. Тези спорове са частично за контрола на морските и природните ресурси, като например възможни резерви от суров петрол и природен газ.

Източници:
Toshio, К., „Shinto in the History of Japanese Religion“
Encyclopedia Britannica - http://www.britannica.com/topic/Shinto

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...I was given the pleasure of interviewing Kai, who is one of my co-workers. She teaches Intro to Computers. While interviewing her, one thing that stuck out to me was she said that she learned things about Japanese culture from her parents growing up, but that she learned it from just simply watching them. Such as, taking off shoes at the door and eating with chopsticks. These sorts of things were second nature and just a way of life. This made me think about my own life and how most things about my own culture, which I have learned, are things that I picked up at a young age by just following in my parents footsteps. Kai also spoke about how her family was very strict growing up. She compared her upbringing to the kids at our school and said they get a lot of slack and how parents seemed less involved. She felt her family expected nothing but the best out of her. This seems to be something that is pretty consistent amongst the Japanese American culture. They tend to hold careers, school and hobbies at high regards. They feel that anything you are partaking in should be done to the best possible standard. This way of thinking has translated into her classroom. She holds her scholars to a high standard and takes the proper steps if these standards are not met, with phone calls home and setting up parent conferences. Something else that I found interesting is that, even though a great number of the Japanese Culture immigrated to America in the late 1800s (McGoldrick, 2005)....

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Japan

...To Be or Not to Be: Japan’s Reliance on Mahan’s Strategy during World War II Geographically, Japan is an island nation that is slightly smaller than the state of California, with an area of 377,915 square kilometers. However, Japan has a coastline that is almost 30,000 kilometers in length in comparison to the United States coastline, which is 19,924 kilometers in length. It is narrowly separated from modern-day Russia, North Korea, South Korea, and China by the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. On maps the largest cities in Japan are on the Eastern side of the island chain, looking toward the Atlantic Ocean, and it boasts few natural resources, besides fishing. The geography of Japan and its proximity to its neighbors has shaped the strategic policy of Japan for centuries, and has driven the necessity of a strong navel strategy. However, it did not always have naval aims. During World War II, while Japan strongly relied on the writings on Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914) in developing their national and naval strategy. However, their strategy had some fatal flaws that would prevent a victory or a negotiated settlement with the United States. Mahan is often compared to the highly esteemed Jomini and Clausewitz, who were famous for their land-based military strategy. However, many of his ideas were not new; they were derived from historical sources from which he distilled and clarified some major concepts. Mahan’s huge contribution to Navel strategy was the...

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England and Japan

...“England and Japan” England and Japan both, which are island nations, have a lot of difficult obstacles, which they must over come to be stable and successful nations. Both shares a rich and vibrant history but on opposite ends of the planet. They both import and export a wide variety of items from different industries. Each island nation has its own special geographic features that are unique to their own nation. England and Japan that they are on two separates sides of the world makes them vastly different in history, geographic features and exports. England, which is an island country that makes up the lower third of the United Kingdom, has geographic features that range from grass plains to mountains. Towards the south of the island you will find more of grasslands, farms, flatlands, and a hilly environment. Then if you more north of island you’ll find a rockier, mountainous environment where you find a bit less wildlife because this area is considered tundra due to the lack of rainfall in this area. While if you take a look at Japan it also is an island country but it doesn’t range in geographic features as widely as England. Japan is really limited to about two major geographic features. These features are a mostly mountain, which makes up about 70% of Japan’s land. The other major feature would be plains, which are far, and few between. Japans has a lot of different imports and exports because like England they are a island nation which lacks some resources exports...

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Japan Culture

...Japan is the culture that I chose to explore. The Japanese diet is known to be one of the more healthy diets. Lifestyle and diet help the people of japan live longer and healthier on average. With a life expectancy of 86 for women and 79 for men. They also live longer with fewer disabilities. A few reasons for this include portion control and lower calorie foods. They eat an average 25% less calories per day then the average American. They replace high calorie snack with energy dense foods. Portion control and smaller plates are also typical in Japanese culture. Rice is also a foundation of their diet and is served with every meal. Veggies are the main theme of a traditional meal with fish and soy based products coming in next. Japan also introduced the world to sushi. Traditional sushi restaurants in japan are different then in other countries. They mostly focus on one type of fish in each restaurant. For centuries the Japanese did not eat meat. Buddhism law forbid the consumption of meat from mammals and birds. Fish was excluded but whales were mammals and could not be eaten. It was in the mid 20th century that meat was reintroduced from China and Korea. Meat is typically a new ingredient that requiring new recipes. Modern Japan incorporates a lot of foreign cuisines in to their diets. Although rice is still a main ingredient, its consumption is half of what it was 40 years ago. Japanese culture now brings in many sides dishes to their meals. Naomichi, I. (2006...

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