AHC: Muslim/Hindu/Something else Japan

Japan historically has had a mixture of Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucian practices. It's relatively easy to imagine a timeline where it becomes Christian (not saying it was close to becoming Christian in OTL, but it's easy to imagine a timeline where it was.) What about other religions? There were powerful Muslim nations to their south, and at least one Hindu nation. They were nearly conquered by a multi-religious Mongol Empire. Is there any plausible way to get a Japan where a faith other than the ones they had in OTL or Christianity is a major part of their culture?
 
Well... maybe an Indonesian way of conversion. Islam offers new ways of fighting non-Muslims in China and Korea and taking loot. Although I doubt if the Japanese really need that...

Hinduism... well... same way how it entered Indonesia. Both Islam and Hinduism need something the Japanese are willing to convert to.
 
How about a Manichaean Japan, idk how that would work.
In China, the Manichaeans, at least in their final incarnation (around the end of the Yuan), were essentially a variant of Buddhism. And Chinese religions--including Islam--is likely to influence Japan at some point or another.
 
Japan historically has had a mixture of Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucian practices. It's relatively easy to imagine a timeline where it becomes Christian (not saying it was close to becoming Christian in OTL, but it's easy to imagine a timeline where it was.) What about other religions? There were powerful Muslim nations to their south, and at least one Hindu nation. They were nearly conquered by a multi-religious Mongol Empire. Is there any plausible way to get a Japan where a faith other than the ones they had in OTL or Christianity is a major part of their culture?
Muslim is Hard(even christianity too) as we've the emperor as head of shintoism and all that jazz...the only way would be some shogun beating everything even emperor or even the same emperor using sufi inspired ideas declaring itself caliph and that the old tales got loss with idolatry...islam is very hard with absolute monotheism, even if we make all gods into djinns is hard too
 

Kaze

Banned
Manichean might be possible if Kublai Khan was one... and if he is successful in his invasion.

Christianity might be possible if Shimbara Rebellion is successful --- then we have a Christian as Shogun?
 
To have a more lasting Hindu influence on Japan is not impossible. Deities such as Fujin, Raijin and perhaps even Inari Okami combine aspects of the Rigvedic Deities, Vayu, Indra and Uma Haimavati respectively. However these were fully Buddhist interpretations of these deities, archaic remnants from the time of the Pali Canon, so they can be discarded as they really didn't represent the mass form of Hindu deities in Southeast Asia or on the Subcontinent.

The best way would be for the Champa fleets of Indrapura to actually remain premier rather than those of Panduranga or Vijaya. Majapahit traders and Shaivite saints had already spread the first inklings of Hinduism to the Phillipines by the late 10th century and it was spreading fast in Luzon as far as I know. If the Indrapura fleets which used to regularly visit Taiwan and Luzon continue to do so it might not be long before the faith starts island hopping up the Ryukyus.

Concepts such as Harihara and the cult of the Devaraja would jive very well with the Heian period emperors and if the faith manages to entrench itself it would most likely syncretise with Shinto and Buddhist practices to re-establish itself in a new method. And since Buddhism had already entered Japan via China the Buddhist thought from Srivijaya and the Khmer empire that enters Japan might provide a competing school of thought for it.
 
To have a more lasting Hindu influence on Japan is not impossible. Deities such as Fujin, Raijin and perhaps even Inari Okami combine aspects of the Rigvedic Deities, Vayu, Indra and Uma Haimavati respectively. However these were fully Buddhist interpretations of these deities, archaic remnants from the time of the Pali Canon, so they can be discarded as they really didn't represent the mass form of Hindu deities in Southeast Asia or on the Subcontinent.

The best way would be for the Champa fleets of Indrapura to actually remain premier rather than those of Panduranga or Vijaya. Majapahit traders and Shaivite saints had already spread the first inklings of Hinduism to the Phillipines by the late 10th century and it was spreading fast in Luzon as far as I know. If the Indrapura fleets which used to regularly visit Taiwan and Luzon continue to do so it might not be long before the faith starts island hopping up the Ryukyus.

Concepts such as Harihara and the cult of the Devaraja would jive very well with the Heian period emperors and if the faith manages to entrench itself it would most likely syncretise with Shinto and Buddhist practices to re-establish itself in a new method. And since Buddhism had already entered Japan via China the Buddhist thought from Srivijaya and the Khmer empire that enters Japan might provide a competing school of thought for it.


I think if Majapahit did not even revive Hinduism and Block the spread of Islam in the Philippines - Luzon and Panay had cultural links with Sumatra, Philippines would have been Muslim in the 1400s.
 
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