Neo-Confucianism is said to have developed in China from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, quite a long period. In Japanese philosophy, however, the thinkers of the Song Dynasty are said to have had the greater influence. And, of course, there is no pure Confucianism, but a mixed form nourished by some Buddhist and Taoist ideas.

As far as Japanese culture is concerned, there are several elements that help to understand why most specialists, and then non-specialists, notice the influence of Buddhism and less that of Confucianism and Taoism. The first is perhaps that Japanese Buddhism is perceived as somehow Japanese before it is Indian (I will probably write more about this in a future post). Also, the amount of research on Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism is very large, and there is certainly much less research on Confucianism and Taoism in Japan. I would add that Confucian worldviews are embodied by Japanese people, but most of the time they are not conscious of where their behaviors and values come from.