Churches In Anime

Like the others have said, there aren't that many Christians in Japan. Most Japanese people aren't very religious in general (yes they may participate in some Shinto/Buddhist traditions but most would not say they really believe in a god). But like altair said I think they are curious about Christianity and think religious figures are sort of cool since Westerners are so religious. *disclaimer not trying to generalize all Japanese, just what I learned in school/experience

Less than 1% of the Japanese are Christian. 85% claim no religious affiliation. They incorporate elements of various religions in a syncretic fashion known as Shinbutsu shūgō. Figures that state 84% to 96% of Japanese adhere to Shinto and Buddhism are not based on self-identification but come primarily from birth records, following a longstanding practice of officially associating a family line with a local Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. My grandfather and great-grandfather identify as Buddhist, but they never practiced the religion. I think in general they are mostly irreligious, using religion more as a story or cultural reference as opposed to actually believing any of it is true. The average Christian church in Japan has less than a 30 person attendance rate per week. There's lots of fascination with Nazism in Japanese culture as well. Even during the Sengoku-era there was very little emphasis on religion as opposed to Western cultures.

The nazism is kinda everywhere in Asia. I remember in Taiwan I saw like cartoon Hitler keychains with him doing stuff like using the toilet. It was weird. They teach world war 2 differently from western countries. Which makes sense since in like the states we don't really go much into asian events other stuff that affected us like pearl harbor. But it was still surreal for me hahaha

THE majority of Japanese people don't believe in god, but they show some interest. If you see in animes (like 7 ghosts or ao no exorcist) Japan give Christians a demon hunters image

Sugihara got it right on the nose. There are churches in Japan, and even Christian and Catholic schools, but calling it 'worship' of Buddhism or Shinto is a bit off. It's more like a kind of superstition, but without the negative connotations...

Wow, I learn a lot on this website. But the whole Nazism thing gives me the creeps. Do they do it as a gag or are they serious? Because in the U.S. a lot of people just make fun of Hitler and Nazism, but some people take it seriously (like the Aryan Brotherhood) and commit crimes against those who are not considered Aryan.

The most churches that I have seen in anime are when the girls go to an All-Girls Catholic school, such as Strawberry Panic!, Maria Holic, and Maria Watches Over Us. The only reason why I can think of these all-girl school settings is for an excuse for the relationships amongst the students, aka yuri. So it makes me think that the creators don't have much information to know that promiscuous activities for high school girls with each other is strictly off limits. However, I can tell that some of them do know something about it on a spiritual level and some of the symbols. Japan wears crosses just how we wear the Tao symbol ("yin-yang") as jewelry or tattoos, even though I doubt these people follow Taoist believes. In the manga "Ai Girl," it is also set in an All-Girls Catholic school setting, but instead of the main character having a relationship with another girl, she has one with a teacher. She is very spiritual though because she is a dying girl. It is a smut manga in the end. (Not hentai, just to be clear) The use of it all though is for shock value though.