In Japan, it is very common for someone’s legitimate activities or businesses to be criticized as a “宗教 religion” and that he/she is deceiving the “信者 believers” to pay them money.

For example, right after the membership features on YouTube was released in Japan and many famous YouTubers started using the system, there were people saying

"They’re scammers who are taking money from their followers!"

Another example is if you look up the names of famous entrepreneurs in Japan on Google, there are tons of articles claiming that their businesses and activities are just like “a new cult religion.”

These might be some extreme examples, but the word “宗教 religion” in general has a negative image among Japanese people, and it’s a topic that we all avoid talking about.

Why do Japanese people feel so much resistance against religions? Why are "religion" and "fraud" treated as almost the same among Japanese people?

So today, I will introduce the three events in Japanese history that I believe might have affected how Japanese people react to religions. The 3 reasons will get more and more critical and important towards the end and also in the last chapter I will talk about why Japanese people who don’t like religions still carry on many religious activities.

However before I start, I want to make it clear that Japanese people do not have hatred towards a certain religion. The main topic today is about why Japanese people feel so much resistance towards religions in general, and how this word started to walk on its own.

[Time codes]
0:00 Let's START!
2:22 1. Suppression of Buddhism and Banning on Christianity
6:30 2. World War Ⅱ and Kokka Shinto
10:14 3. Social Crimes Committed by Cults
12:13 Why Japan has Religious Events
14:07 Today's Conclusion

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