page_title: Religion in Japan
section_title: Ryukyuan religion
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Japan / Minor religions / Other religions of East Asia / Ryukyuan religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Harimizu Utaki, Miyakojima, Okinawa, Japan 日本語: 漲水御嶽（沖縄県宮古島市）
context_page_description: Buddhism and Shintoism are the two major religions in Japan. According to the annual statistical research on religion in 2018 by the Agency for Culture Affairs, Government of Japan, 69.0 percent of the population practices Shintoism, 66.7 percent Buddhism, 1.5 percent Christianity, and 6.2 percent other religions. Total adherents exceeds 100% because many Japanese people practice both Shintoism and Buddhism. However, other surveys such as the Japanese General Social Survey and the Japanese National Character Survey find that roughly 70% of the population report that they have no religious beliefs. Most of the Japanese pray and worship ancestors and gods at Shinto shrines or at private altars, while not identifying as "Shinto" or "Shintoist" in surveys. This is because these terms have little meaning for the majority of the Japanese, or because they define membership in Shinto organizations or sects. The term "religion" itself in Japanese culture defines only organized religions. People who identify as "non-religious" in surveys actually mean that they do not belong to any religious organization, even though they may take part in Shinto rituals and worship.
context_section_description: The Ryukyuan religion is the indigenous belief system of the people of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands. While specific legends and traditions may vary slightly from place to place and island to island, the Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship (more accurately termed "ancestor respect") and the respecting of relationships between the living, the dead, and the gods and spirits of the natural world. Some of its beliefs, such as those concerning genius loci spirits and many other beings classified between gods and humans, are indicative of its ancient animistic roots, as is its concern with mabui (まぶい), or life essence.
  One of its most ancient features is the belief onarigami (おなり神), the spiritual superiority of women derived from the goddess Amamikyu, which allowed for the development of a class of noro (priestesses) cult and yuta (female media). This differs from Japanese Shinto, where men are seen as the embodiment of purity. Ryukyuan religion has been influenced by Japanese Shinto and Buddhism, and various Chinese religions. It includes sects and reformed movements such as Ijun or Ijunism (Ryukyuan: いじゅん Ijun; Japanese: 違順教 Ijunkyō), founded in the 1970s.
caption: Harimizu utaki (Harimizu Shrine), a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture.
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