In general Japanese (older generations anyway) will identify as non-religious then, when pressed why they nonetheless put so much stock in traditional beliefs like the kami, will say "Well, that's not religion, it's just true."
That reminds me of the way the Japanese worded their acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation. They were worried about the Allies deposing the Emperor, and they wrote something along the lines of "the Emperor's power is divine in origin, and thus above reproach", which was then reworded into "the supreme authority of the Emperor", on the insistence of Baron Hiranuma, who wanted the message to match the wording of the Meiji Constitution.
"Well, that's not religion, it's just true."
Kind of like the Vorta in DS9.
last edited at Mar 22, 2016 1:00PM