Writer Ryunosuke AKUTAGAWA made a character in one of his short stories say things to the effect that efforts to plant any religion in Japan would not be rewarded because Japanese people had had a unique view of religion to revere 'eight million different deities' since ancient times, which can be found in Shinto, Buddha and Jesus Christ being considered to be one of these deities in Japan.
作家の芥川龍之介は、日本にいくら宗教を根付かせようとしても無理なのは、日本が古来から「八百万の神」を崇める、神道などに見られる独特の宗教観を持つからで、釈迦もイエス・キリストも日本にくれば神々の一人という扱いになる、といった主旨のことをある短編作品の登場人物に語らせている。