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Christianity

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Christianity (キリスト教 kirisuto-kyou, Greek: Χριστιανισμός, Latin: Religio Christiana) is a monotheistic Western religion. Believing in only one god, Christianity is greatly different from religions like Shinto, which worship many gods and may acknowledge the existence of gods from other religions. While Christianity is a majority religion in many parts of the world, it has little presence in Japan compared to Shinto and Buddhism. Because of this, Christianity has developed a reputation as something exotic and mystical.

Christmas (クリスマス kurisumasu) is widely celebrated in Japan, but it is not considered a national holiday and its religious aspects are mostly ignored; it is largely a commercial event centered on Santa Claus, and has also absorbed aspects of Valentine's Day.

Christianity in Touhou

Christianity appears to hold little if no spiritual significance in the Touhou Project. The vampires Remilia Scarlet and Flandre Scarlet, for instance, are unharmed by crosses despite taking spiritual damage from Shinto charms and the Yin-Yang Orb.[1][2]

References to Christianity

In Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Rumia claims that she stretches her arms out to resemble the "crucifixion of a saint", most likely refering to Jesus Christ [3], and both Seiga Kaku and Hieda no Akyuu compare Toyosatomimi no Miko to Jesus: Seiga finds tales of his resurrection after a mere three days unimpressive compared to Miko's[4], while Akyuu notes that legends of Prince Shotoku being born in a stable (which Miko denies) were probably influenced by Christianity.[5]

In Symposium of Post-mysticism, Seiga Kaku decides to act as a "Santa Claus" for Gensokyo (being unsure if the real Santa exists there), but simplify things by stealing valuables to pay for the toys she leaves. Aya Shameimaru merely expresses a hope that she doesn't wear Santa's white hair while she does it, since she wouldn't want such deeds associated with someone who looks like the tengu's god Sarutahiko.[6]

In Wild and Horned Hermit, Kasen Ibaraki compares Buddha, a saint who died beneath a pair of sal trees and "rid himself of all worldy attachments and abandoned his flesh" to Jesus, who died while crucified and was "so attached to the flesh that he performed the miracle of resurrection".[7]

In the PC-98 games Yumemi Okazaki used crosses as danmaku, leading Ellen to ask if she was a Christian. Sariel and Shinki appear to be based on an angel of death and Lucifer respectively.

Characters relevant to this religion

Characters not original to Touhou

Gallery

See Also

References

  1. Imperishable Night - Manual: Remilia Scarlet. "Crosses have no effect on her. It puzzles her to hear that her kind are supposed to be weak against such a thing. "
  2. Shoot the Bullet: Spell Card Ex - 2. "I was fairly sure vampires were weak to the cross symbol, but it doesn't seem like it. She just came out and played with it..."
  3. Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - Marisa Scenario, Stage 1:
    Marisa: So, why are you stretching out your arms like that?
    Rumia: Doesn't it look like it says "The saint was crucified on the cross"?
  4. Ten Desires: Youmu's Scenario. "She will be revived very soon. Compared to that foreign prophet who resurrected three days after his execution... this will be much more divine and magnificent."
  5. Symposium of Post-mysticism: Miko article
  6. 6.0 6.1 Symposium of Post-mysticism: Bunbunmaru Newspaper 4
  7. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 44