What comes around, goes around.” As with the religions you're familiar with, in Buddhism, because of karma, it's best to think twice and do good.
Another one of the main things that makes Buddhism so different from other religions is reincarnation. We've talked about it earlier but reincarnation is the belief where you will be reborn again. It's a bit different from thinking that you only have this one life, and you must pray. In Buddhism, we believe everyone will be reborn forever and ever. What you may become in your next life will be decided by your karma in this life. Did you do a lot of good? Then, you may be lucky enough to become a prince or princess in your next life. Maybe even a crazy scientist if that's what you want to be! If you weren't really a good person, you'll probably be reborn as an something you hate. This could be a gross, sticky bug or a person with really bad luck. Even though Buddhism is different from religions like Christianity, because of reincarnation, what you do in this life matters.
Buddhism travelled over to Japan from China and Korea. Let’s first remember that Buddhism started in India. India, as we know, is located next to China. After spreading over to China through trading routes, it spread into Korea (because Korea is also close to China). From Korea and China, Buddhism eventually made its way across land and sea to Japan. That means from India, Buddhism travelled over 3,000 miles to reach Japan. Wow! I can barely run 1 mile; just imagine 3000! Japan has Buddhism only because this religion was able to travel inch-by-inch over time across the globe.
