Here are some pictures of a Buddhist shrine, a Japanese cemetery, and inside a samurai house. The air force requires that all newcomers to the base go on two days worth of tours. The first day they showed us around Misawa and took us to one of the Buddhist shrines. A couple things we learned from the shrine: Buddhists don't go to church once a week. They do a lot more individual meditation and then go to the shrines on holidays or during special occasions. Anyone can enter their shrines, but you have to take off your shoes (which is required when you enter most homes, restaurants, and some bathrooms.) When they enter a shrine they will say a pray and either burn some incense, wash their hands, or ring a bell. Their cemeteries are also very interesting and they have a lot of them right next to the roads. They believe in cremation and usually one statue contains many family's ashes and if I remember right, the sticks have the deceased member's holy name engraved on them.
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