Alexander Rayevsky is a Japanese historian, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, associate professor at Tohoku University (Japan). He graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University and defended his PhD thesis on the religious sect Aum Shinrikyo. In 2019, he moved to Japan, where he still lives and works.Here is the second part of the book "I understood Japan", which continues the story of a mysterious island country that conquered the whole world with its amazing culture. As in the first book, only the most important and interesting information about Japan is selected from the vast array of scientific information, and academic knowledge is presented in vivid and easy language to make acquaintance with this country as fascinating as possible and help the reader understand and love it.This book is for those who have already immersed themselves a little in the history and customs of Japan, but would like to learn more about the roots of this amazing culture hidden in the depths of the centuries, which made it the way we know and love it today. This time we will talk about religion and the art of Japan. It is not easy to talk about these topics, but without them it is impossible to fully understand this country.The pages of this book are waiting for you:• Ancient gods, myths about the origin of Japan and strange religious rituals;• werewolves, ghosts, evil spirits and evil spirits — how the Japanese have been scaring themselves from time immemorial to the present day;• the main aesthetic principles of Japanese art — what is beautiful for Japanese and why;• poetry tournaments of aristocrats and theatrical performances of mountain hermits.Get ready: a trip to the roots of Japan can be much more exciting than you imagined!