Inasmuch as the influence of Confucianism in Japan was chiefly manifested through Bushidō, to be correct, we ought to speak of their joint influences. But since Bushidō, as we have just seen, was largely Confucianism, slightly modified to suit the needs of the Japanese spirit (_Yamato-damashii_), we shall, for convenience, follow other writers in using the term “Confucianism.” Rein testifies that in Japan “widely diffused religious indifference and formal atheism are the consequences” of the pursuit of Confucianism. Chamberlain says that “during the two hundred years that followed, the whole intellect of the country was moulded by Confucian ideas.” Griffis bears similarly strong testimony, and emphasizes the fact that “all Japanese social, official, intellectual, and literary life was permeated with the new spirit of Confucian thought.” It is not strange, therefore, that when Japan was opened to the world, and Occidental learning and literature poured in, the materialism and the agnosticism of the West met with a sympathetic reception. [Illustration: GROUP OF PILGRIMS, AND BUDDHIST PRIESTS] Buddhism is the accepted faith of the great mass of the Japanese people. It was introduced into Japan from Korea, in the sixth century A. D., and spread rapidly. It is now divided in Japan into eight sects, with various sub-sects, which bring the grand total up to about thirty-five. These sects vary, some in doctrines and others in rituals, and are even quite hostile to each other. The Shin sect deserves, perhaps, a special mention; because it opposes celibacy and asceticism, does not restrict the diet, worships only one Buddha, and preaches salvation by faith. It is often called “the Protestantism of Buddhism.” Buddhist temples are usually magnificent structures, and the ritual is elaborate; but, in spite of the assistance of Colonel Olcott, Sir Edwin Arnold, and others, it is fast losing ground. It has degenerated and become idolatry and superstition. It keeps hold of the ignorant masses, and even of intelligent persons, chiefly because it has control of funeral rites and cemeteries. It has been said that a Japanese is a Shintōist in life and a Buddhist at death; and it is also true that he may be during life, at one and the same time, a devotee of both. Buddhism may suffice for a people who are crushed under an Oriental despotism; but Christianity alone is the religion of liberty and progress. Buddha may be “the light of Asia,” but Jesus Christ is “the light of the world.” Nanjō, the historian of Japanese Buddhism, has written a “History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects”; but as some of these are now defunct, it is sufficient to notice here only eight principal sects, as follows: Tendai, Shingon, Zen, Jōdo, Shin, Nichiren, Ji, Yuzu Nembutsu. Moreover, as the last two of these are comparatively insignificant, the mere mention of their names is enough, but a little more should be said concerning each of the other six.