Chapter XXV: Are the Japanese Religious?

Prof. Pfleiderer's view--Percival Lowell's definition of religion--Japanese appearance of irreligion due to many facts--Skeptical attitude of Confucius towards the gods--Ready acceptance of Western agnosticism--Prof. Chamberlain's assertion that the Japanese take their religion lightly--Statements concerning religion by Messrs. Fukuzawa, Kato, and Ito--Statements of Japanese irreligion are not to be lightly accepted--Incompetence of many critics--We must study all the religious phenomena--Pilgrimages--Statistics--Mr. Lowell's criticism of "peripatetic picnic parties"--Is religion necessarily gloomy?--God and Buddha shelves universal in Japan--Temples and shrines--Statistics, 286