Religious Attitudes and Beliefs Among Japanese Americans: King County,Washington and Santa Clara County,California

The beliefs and attitudes on religion and religiosity within the Japanese American population in the continental United States is a relatively unexplored topic, A 1998–2000 study of randomly sampled, face-to-face interviews with 344 Japanese Americans was conducted in King County, Washington, and Santa Clara, California. The study included six questions relevant to religious attitudes and beliefs with analysis offered concerning the differences and similarities with data obtained from fifty-years of study in Japan and Japanese American religiosity. Such differences included having a personal faith and the degree to which Christianity is a notable part of Japanese American life. Conversely, the persistence of Buddhism among Japanese Americans was another striking finding. Japanese Americans exhibit today, across the age ranges, through the generations and between genders, a high rate of personal religious belief, attendance at Christian and Buddhist churches and temples and a high level of agreement concerning the importance of religious attitudes.