On Saturday, December 13, 1997 4:08 PM, H. Torrance Griffin wrote:

Christianity, for example, is at best a semi-fringe cult in Japan to
this day.

I think calling Christianity a cult is a little extreme.  It *is* a 
minority religion, however.

In 1994,  117 million Japanese adhered to Shintoism.  90 million were 
Buddhists.  2 million were Christians.

In the Ranma 1/2 manga, Kasumi is clearly seen wearing a cross on more 
than one occasion.  So it is reasonable to assume that Kasumi, at 
least, is Christian, and quite possibly the whole Tendo family.

As you point out, sometimes the religions overlap, so it is not unusual 
to see practicing Christians have shrines to deceased relatives, for 
example.

HTG

-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com

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