Japan

Japan is a country made up of a number of islands in the northern Pacific Ocean off the Template:Wiki mainland. From the 7th century onward the country absorbed Template:Wiki Template:Wiki, including Buddhism, which became and remained for many centuries the religion of the majority of the people, although Shinto and Template:Wiki have always been important too. Zen, the contemplative branch of Japanese Buddhism, had a profound influence on the arts especially painting, Template:Wiki, gardening and flower arranging. Dogen, probably the most brilliant and creative Japanese thinker, was a Buddhist monk. Buddhism was disestablished in 1870 and since then it has struggled to make itself relevant to Template:Wiki dynamic consumer Template:Wiki. See Jianzhen and Shotoku.

A Template:Wiki of Japanese Buddhism, S. Hanayama, 1966. Template:R www.buddhisma2z.com