Buddhism and, to a lesser degree, Shinto, Japan’s earliest belief system, were influences on Japanese art. Buddhism came from Korea in the 6th century, leading to the construction of religious sites and sculptures that adhered to Korean and Chinese prototypes. Its iconography also gave form to kami, Shinto’s hitherto amorphous deities. Other Buddhist models continued to influence Japanese culture, including Chinese Chan (Japanese: Zen), which occasioned Japan’s tea ceremony.
How does religion influence Japanese art?
What is Japanese art?
Japanese art is the painting, calligraphy, architecture, pottery, sculpture, and other visual arts produced in Japan from about 10,000 BCE to the present. Within its diverse body of expression, certain characteristic elements seem to be recurrent: adaptation of other cultures, respect for nature as a model, humanization of religious iconography, and appreciation for material as a vehicle of meaning.
