RAMAYANA IN NORTHERN EAST ASIA TRADITION AND ITS INFLUENCES TO THEIR CULTURE

Abstract

It is difficult to see typical Hindu influences in their original form in current Japanese social culture. However, which does not mean that Hinduism did not influence Japan. Originally, Japan had a native faith called Shinto, on which Buddhism was introduced. In the Buddhism introduced from China, various influences of Hinduism can be seen. In other words, Hindu culture in Japan exists within the Buddhism introduced from China. Unfortunately, it is not easy to identify Hindu influences in current Japanese culture, as Buddhism and Hinduism have some similarities and sometimes become very fused in China, and they also has been transformed over a long period of time since their introduction to Japan. In this article, I would like to present an example of one aspect of these Hindu identifiers in Japan. In Japan, there are seven traditional deities known as the Seven Gods of Fortune. They are worshipped in everyday life in Japan, are popular in modern society and are believed in by many Japanese