The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume Initiation, Baptism, or Confirmation The ǦǦ (Seven-Five-Three) festival on November 15 is the occasion for boys of five years and girls of three and seven years of age to visit the shrine to give thanks for kami’s protection and to pray for their healthy growth January 15 is Adults’ Day Youth in the village used to join the local young men’s association on this day At present, it is the commemoration day for those Japanese who have attained their twentieth year Death and Afterlife Death is seen as polluting and conflicts with the purity of Shintō shrines For that reason, cemeteries are never built on or near Shintō shrines This results in most Japanese having Buddhist or secular funerals at a different location The funerals are not conducted by priests because the contact with death would be too polluting for Shintō priests Because Shintō has co-existed with Buddhism for well over a millennium, it is very difficult to untangle Shintō and Buddhist beliefs about the world Though Buddhism and Shintō have very different perspectives on the world, most Japanese not see any challenge in reconciling these two very different religions, and practice both Thus it is common for people to practice Shintō in life, yet have a Buddhist funeral Their different perspectives on the afterlife are seen as complementing each other, and frequently the ritual practice of one will have an origin in the other.28 Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami Shintōism does not divide life into a natural physical world and a supernatural transcendent world Everything is a part of a single creation They believe that spirit beings are still here, and human beings share the same world and they are intertwined in the life process ~ 299 ~