It is no doubtful that traditional Japanese Buddhism has been established under the strong influence of Buddhism. Japanese arts and culture, whether they are paintings, literatures, plays or music, throughout ancient times, medieval times and modern times have close relations with Buddhism. Since modern times the belief of Buddhism has been weakened. The number of Buddhists has been dramatically decreased in the once Buddhist country, Japan. It does not mean that modern Japanese minds have nothing to do with Buddhism. It is easy to find a Buddhist sentiment in many art works. In particular, Buddhism is given a great deal of weight on Manga, a major genre of current Japanese culture. Since World War II, story Manga related to Buddhism has developed on its way to become the most globally competitive sector in contemporary Japanese culture. First, when it comes to story Manga written before the 1970s, there is『ブッダ (Buddha)』, written by Osamu Tezuka, which vividly depicts the life of Siddhartha adding author’s imagination based on historical documents. Another work, 『火の鳥 (Hi-no-Tori: Phoenix)』deals with Samsara and the law of cause and effect. In the 1970s and 1980s, a renowned Manga artist Sigeru Mizuki wrote his story based on features of Japanized Buddhism such as ancestor worship and animism unlike Tezuka who understood Buddhism and developed his story based on his intellectual interests in primitive Buddhism. Since 1990s, the analytic methods of Buddhism have been changed. Yoshihiro Koizumi’s『ブッダとシッダカブッダ (Buddha and Shittaka Buddha)』uses Buddhism to raise new sights for contemporary society and living environment. Manga seems to have affinity to Buddhism due to its more individual and reflecting way of expression than other genres such as movies. In conclusion, such change of Buddhism in Manga can be seen as change of the role of Buddhism in Japanese society.

It is no doubtful that traditional Japanese Buddhism has been established under the strong influence of Buddhism. Japanese arts and culture, whether they are paintings, literatures, plays or music, throughout ancient times, medieval times and modern times have close relations with Buddhism. Since modern times the belief of Buddhism has been weakened. The number of Buddhists has been dramatically decreased in the once Buddhist country, Japan. It does not mean that modern Japanese minds have nothing to do with Buddhism. It is easy to find a Buddhist sentiment in many art works. In particular, Buddhism is given a great deal of weight on Manga, a major genre of current Japanese culture. Since World War II, story Manga related to Buddhism has developed on its way to become the most globally competitive sector in contemporary Japanese culture. First, when it comes to story Manga written before the 1970s, there is『ブッダ (Buddha)』, written by Osamu Tezuka, which vividly depicts the life of Siddhartha adding author’s imagination based on historical documents. Another work, 『火の鳥 (Hi-no-Tori: Phoenix)』deals with Samsara and the law of cause and effect. In the 1970s and 1980s, a renowned Manga artist Sigeru Mizuki wrote his story based on features of Japanized Buddhism such as ancestor worship and animism unlike Tezuka who understood Buddhism and developed his story based on his intellectual interests in primitive Buddhism. Since 1990s, the analytic methods of Buddhism have been changed. Yoshihiro Koizumi’s『ブッダとシッダカブッダ (Buddha and Shittaka Buddha)』uses Buddhism to raise new sights for contemporary society and living environment. Manga seems to have affinity to Buddhism due to its more individual and reflecting way of expression than other genres such as movies. In conclusion, such change of Buddhism in Manga can be seen as change of the role of Buddhism in Japanese society.