Well there was the
Kakure Kirishitan from the Edo period as mentioned, but that could have come to nothing if not for Japan perceives that it was USA (not the Allies including China and USSR) defeating them in WW2.
Traditional Japan is polytheist, so many many Japanese view Jesus as one more of the Gods that shouldn't be neglected. Many Japanese go to Shinto temples during the festivals, Buddhist temples on holy days and also go to Church on Christmas and Easter. They don't see worshiping at "pagan" temples as a mortal sin violating First Commandment. "Pure" Christians are smaller in numbers but still a fraction. I suspect they are responsible for Japan turning more conservative towards homosexuality, pedophilia and sodomy, adopting more Evangelical/Puritan outlook compare to traditional Japanese value.
I might say in pop culture, Christianity is probably the number 1 source of inspiration, edging out even Shintoism (and Animism). The classic Shinto/Animist anime is of course
Inuyasha. The top Christianity-inspired anime/games in my head are:
Blue Exorcist,
Bayonetta,
Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Trinity Blood. There are many more, but these are very Christian-centric, very popular, and quite good (IMHO).
Is it by coincidence that in all four, either Christian Church and/or the Christian deity are not necessarily the perfect model of Good? In some cases (Bayonetta), God and Angels are actually EVIL? Hmm that's a deeper issue...
Then there's also various Satanic and/or Occult/Pagan inspiration, such as
Fullmetal Alchemist. Which are a lot of fun too.
In those wonderful examples of
@Dagu I think the first vid with the crucifixes bikini is "accidental", it's just a (powerful?) symbol used for decoration, there's no special message.
The last vid, it's not very clear, the performer is a GAL or gyaru, from the (fake) skin color and facial expression. Could it be she just borrowed some Gangsta fashion motif without caring or understanding of the Catholic-Gangsta connection? It would help to know the DVD code so we can look into the rest of the vid to see if there's a stronger rebellious/blasphemy angle.
The second vid with the ritualistic bondage and (probably) r*** and torture, is intentional blasphemy, borrowing from Christian/Satanism for heightening the kinkiness.
Orientals have a less strict view of respecting religions. This is not a bias against foreign religions as
@Inertia suggests. It's the polytheism. In polytheism, most gods and goddesses are not omnipotent and perfect good. They have flaws and desires and weaknesses and may make mistakes and do bad things. Even the Buddha himself wasn't a virgin. So orientals are fine about thinking of or making stories (Third Commandment) about gods, priests, monks and nuns having sex and performing "sinful" things. Also we don't think of Sex as inherently sinful. Many of the deities are not celibate. It may be a weakness or indulgence, but it's not something to send someone to hell and eternal damnation, like the Puritans say (Seventh and Tenth Commandment). Sometimes sex act itself is a religious or spiritual exercise (Hinduism and Taoism).
I am a big fan of religious porn. It won't be a bad idea to try to sustain this thread by sharing any religious-theme (Christianity, Satanism, occult/pagan, Buddhist, Shintoism, Hindu/Yoga/Kama Sutra, etc) AV that you come across.
