Shintoism today

While Shintoism may have had a permeating role in the past in Japan, in recent times it has slipped into the background. In earlier times, Shinto was very animistic - Shintoists worshipped nature through the sun, trees, water, mountains, etc. There was no particular line between man and nature, they viewed everything as one (much like the concept of brahman).

In addition, Japanese philosophy is that a person never had to adhere to one specific religion. According to japan-101.com, "Premodern Japanese were usually both Buddhists and Shintoists at the same time and often Confucians as well."

While it has faded into the background, Shintoism is still alive and well at festivals and on certain holidays by shrines who have specific importance. Also, the traditional Japanese love of nature has not faded, and derives strongly from Shintoist concepts. While very few Japanese today are traditional Shinto practitioners, the soul of the religion still lives on in Japan, seemingly immovably intertwined with Japanese culture.

Source used: http://www.japan-101.com/culture/culture_religion_shintoism_today.htm

Buddhism

I find myself unable to fully relate to Buddhism - it is a religion that was born separated from western influences. Much like the Japanese and Chinese languages are indescribably different than English, both in form and characters, Buddhism and Christianity have few, if any, common links. Being raised to worship the Holy Trinity and hope to get into heaven based on a virtuous life is much different than being raised to believe that one's soul carries on in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth until one's mind becomes fully cleared and enlightened, followed by eternal nothingness, bliss - nirvana.

Beyond that, the lives of Buddhists follow very different paths than what I was raised with. I suppose meditation can relate to prayer, as mantras could relate to hymns or spoken prayer. However, shaving the head and wearing identical orange robes - I am both amazed and impressed by Buddhists' willingness to surrender their individuality for the sake of their religion, even if it is not required.

The stories of the religions' "messiahs" could be similar, although only in life - both Jesus and Buddha lived virtuous lives, not power-hungry, simply preaching what they believed in to those who believed in them. Neither believed in a "toll" to achieve the final happiness (be it heaven or nirvana) and for me, those qualities are ideal for a true leader.