In some places, it's impossible to buy some beer when the local supermarket is closed. Not in Japan.
On leaving an imprint on the world: If you acquire wealth by not pursuing wealth and living what we might call a "balanced" life: okay, fine. Good can come of that for you and those around you. But if you live a life set on acquiring more, you will suffer, I think.
On religions being the same: I think all religions are the same in the sense that all languages are the same. They use sounds to explain processes and participants. But of course, all languages are different: they do things using much different grammar, syntax, lexis, etc..
Holy shit, don't steal that; it's a PhD dissertation: Chomsky's Universal Grammar applied to religious expression.