Within Tokyo metropolis, there is a plot of land adjacent to the main highway joining the city and Yokohama that is dearly sacred to the Christian Catholics of Japan. Approximately 400 years ago, on December 4th, 1623 more than fifty Catholics were severely executed by fire on the plot as a sign of martyrdom (Hangemann 27). This was one of the persecution measures taken by Tokugawa Shōgun to control and reclaim Buddhist religious doctrine and stop Christianity that was highly gaining popularity. A reflection by Teather the following years under the emperor of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the extermination policy flourished leading to the termination of missionary expedition in the entire Japan in an attempt to monopolize the society to pure Buddhism and …show more content…
However, due to inter-temporal medieval relationships with Korea and China, the spread of Confucianism blended the Buddhist culture, and the two philosophies became dominant in the early Japan under Prince Shôtoku rule. By 728, Emperor Shômu under his rule had built six Buddha schools three of them in Mahayana and the other three in Theravada. Hangemann also in his narration finds that the initial Japanese religion was called Shinto or kami-no-michi, an indigenous belief that is found in the Japanese mythology that involved the worship of many gods (Hangemann 36). Besides, this doctrine is practiced in an extremely traditional manner that leads to people's’ assumption of a possible traditional norm than a religion. Moreover, the practices included sacrifices and offerings that constituted the ancient culture in the Japanese society. Different scholars have also found out through primary documents gathered from the Japanese history journal that indeed, kami-no-michi was the main ancient doctrine of the