Distribution of Buddhism in Japan: An Attempt to Draw a Map of the
Buddhist-Denominational Regions
Masayasu ODA
Distribution of religions is one of the themes in which geographers of
religion have long been interested. It is, however, unpopular among
recent Japanese geographers, though we do not precisely know how
religions are distributed in the country.
In this article, the author analyzes the distribution of Buddhism in
Japan. After reviewing past discussions by geographers and religious
scholars, he draws some maps of regional classification by denomination.
The source is official statistics of the number of temples. The maps are
made as for the years 1888, 1937 and 1959. As a result of comparing
these maps each other, it becomes clear that the predominant
denomination changed in some prefectures. The author also draws a map of
the number of believers in 1922, which shows some difference from that
of the number of temples. Lastly, a map of the Buddhist-denominational
regions in Japan is proposed, where the country is divided into seven
areas.
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