DOCSLIB.ORG

Japan in History, Folk Lore and Art

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Japan in History, Folk Lore and Art n. fCjr ^4 % PRINCETON, N. J. Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund. Division D3809 Section '.C353 Number. 'V / 2C^e Kiberstoe iLibrar? for IFoung peoplr Number 10 JAPAN: IN HISTORY, FOLK-LORE AND ART By william ELLIOT GRIFFIS JAPAN IN HISTORY, FOLK LORE AND ART BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS AUTHOR OF “the MIKADO’S EMPIRE,” “JAPANESE FAIRY WORLD ' “MATTHEW GALBRAITH PERRY,” ETC. BOSTON AND NEW^YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY i^itewiDc 12'rcss, Cambribfle 1894 Copyright, 1892, By william ELLIOT GRIFFIS. All rights reserved. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. DEDICATED TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF CONSTITUTIONAL ' JAPAN PREFACE. ! In this contribution to the Riverside Library for Young People, I have told more about Kioto j than about Yedo. I have sketched in outline the Japan of ages rather than of our age. 1 own While political history is the chief theme, my aim has ! been to show how and why the Ja'panese see and think as they do. The adoption of Western civilization changes the outer, but does not greatly modify the inner man. Believing also that what the dignified historians write is only part of a people’s true history, I have sought, from their customs and folk-lore, as well as from the inter- pretation of their artists, material with which to brighten the narrative. Fact and fiction, however, are presented in separate chapters. No writer on Japan can fail to acknowledge deep obligations to that noble band of English students, Messrs. Satow, Aston, and Chamberlain, who have made such profound researches into the ! Vlll PREFACE ancient Japanese language and literature. To them and to Captain Brinkley, the scholarly editor of the “Japan Mail,” I heartily acknowledge much obligation. To my many Japanese friends who from time to time assist me, and especially to the members of the Historical Society of the Imperial University of Tokio, who have honored me by membership in their body, I owe much, and herewith offer my grateful thanks. It is one of the good signs of the times that the Japanese are now studying their own history according to the methods of science, with truth as the end in view. God speed them W. E. G. Boston, Oct. 17, 1892. CONTENTS. CHAPTER page I. Where is Japan? 1 II. Who are the Japanese? 8 III. The Morning of Rising-Sun Land . .15 IV. The Japanese Story of Creation ... 26 V. Origin of the Arts . ^ . .32 VI. The Conquest of the East .... 42 VII. Corea and Buddhism 52 VIII. How THEY LOOK AT THE WoRLD ... 60 IX. The Mikado and his Samurai . .70 X. Letters, Writing, and Names .... 80 XI. The Noble Families and their Politics . 92 XII. Social Life in Kioto' 99 XIII. The Wars of the Genji and Heike . 108 XIV. Yoritomo at Kamakura 117 XV. The Death of Yoshitsune 124 XVI. The Hojo Rule 129 XVII. Benten and the Dragons 137 XVIII. The Ashikaga Shoguns 145 XIX. Three Fajvious Men 154 XX. Ideas and Symbols 166 XXI. The Ashes that made Trees bloom . 175 XXII. Signs and Omens 183 XXIII. The Dutch Yeast in the Japanese Cake . 192 XXIV. Interior Forces making New Japan . 203 XXV. Outward Agencies 209 XXVI. New Japan 221 . Index , 229 I JAPAN : IN HISTORY, FOLK-LORE, AND ART. CHAPTER I. WHEEE IS JAPAN? Where is Japan, and how does it lie on the surface of the globe? With the aid of the steamship and railway, we may answer by saying that Fuji Yama is about sixteen days from New York, or twelve from San Francisco. Or, from the other point of view, we may say that Japan lies in the Pacific Ocean east of China and Corea, in latitude between New- foundland and the West Indies ; that is, the Jap- anese climate is very much like our own. Japan is one of the many archipelagoes in the Pacific Ocean. The number of islands under the sun-flag is nearly four thousand. To inclose the space within the ocean-square thus occupied, we must draw our lines on the globe from the point at latitude 50° 56'. Here our pin, or the sur- veyor’s stake, is driven in at the most northern end of a sMma^ for that is the Japanese word for island, called Araito. This land formerly be- 9 JAPAN longed to Russia. It is in the old chain or group called the Kuriles, or “ The Smokers.” Japan from top to bottom is a line of volcanoes. The hot inside of the earth has here a row of vents in the shape of great mountains like funnels turned upside down. From their holes at the top, as out of tall foundry chimneys, gas, fire, smoke and ashes escape from the interior of the earth. Did you ever see the shell of an avxibi^ as the Japanese call the haliotis, or sea-ear? One may compare the shape and nature of the country to the awabi. The living creature beneath the per- forated shell is able through its roof-holes to com- municate with the outside world, and make its presence and power known to its prey. The line of apertures reaches along the top from the apex to the bottom level of the shell. So all Japan is a great shell or crust of rock and earth, through which the steam, gas, fire, and lava burst forth at times, just as the tentacles of the awabi leap and twirl through its shell. When, for any reason, one or more of these vents are closed, and the volcanoes become dormant, great earthquakes which twist or wrinkle the skin of the globe, or eruptions, which are boiler-explosions on a vast scale, are sure to happen. Even the rock crust and the granite caps of mountains, unable to im- prison the hot subterranean gases, are blown high up in the air. The little Greek children in old times were WHERE IS JAPAN? 3 told that Jupiter confined the giants under volca- noes, and that earthquakes were caused by their writhing, but the Japanese children think that a great underground catfish makes the mischief in their country, and that no one can stop his floun- dering but the god Kashima. Since the Japanese, in 1875, exchanged their half of Saghalin for all the Kuriles, they have I called them Chishima, or the Thousand Islands. I Araito, the northernmost tip of the Mikado’s ' empire, is a little to the west of Cape Lopatka in Kamtschatka. To mark the most eastern point of Japan, we must stick a pin on the map at longitude east 156° 32'. The Japanese now use our system of latitude and longitude for survey- ing and navigation. They are thus able to locate within a few yards on the great earth’s surface the position of a moving ship or a thatched cot- tage. Looking through the lines of a spider’s web stretched across the end of a theodolite, they can measure the precise distance from plumb-bob to stake-centre, and fix the exact spot over the centre of a copper bolt driven in the rock. This mark of the national frontier is in the island of Shimushu at 156° 32'. To find the most southerly point of the Mi- kado’s domain, we follow the meridian down to the tiny island of Haterma, whose tip end south is at 24° 06'. Close to it the island of Yonakuni pokes its rocky nose above the waves. Here, ; 4 JAPAN also, on the end nearest Formosa, at longitude east 122° 45', is Japan’s most western extremity. So Japan lies between the Kussian territory of Kamschatka and the biggest of the Chinese islands, Formosa. If we inclose the space within the four points we have described, we shall have a quadrangle of over four million square miles or a little more, in water, of the space occupied by the land comprising the United States. In this ocean surface, however, the actual territory covers only less than 150,000 square miles, that is, about one twenty-sixth of the whole. The land is to the water as one letter in the alphabet. Japan and the two Dakotas are about the same in size, say 150,000 square miles. Or we may say the Japanese domain looks like a ruler laid slantwise on the map between Kamtschatka and Formosa. In this long and narrow strip, stretching from northwest to south- east between the Russian and Chinese territory, the space, roughly measured, is twenty-two hun- dred miles long and five hundred miles wide, and the land occupied is one seventh of the space. On most of our’ school maps of Asia, the Jap- anese Archipelago is represented as, relatively, about the size of a caterpillar lying on the pump- kin of Asia. Or, if Asia be a ship, Japan is the rudder. Indeed, glancing from north to south, we may thus make an appropriate picture, in our mind’s eye, of this land of tea, silkworms and WHERE IS JAPAN f 5 silk. We may look upon the rounded coast of China as a great teapot, with its spout pointing towards the headless butterfly or silk-moth of Corea; while the mainland of Japan appears as a monstrous silk-worm with its head at Kiushki, spinning out of its mouth a great, glistening thread of islands stretching down to Formosa. Indeed, while the literal meaning of the name Riu Kiu is “sleeping dragon,” the native name is Okinawa, or “long rope.” In the geological ages of the world, there was of land or moun- I probably an extended causeway tain ridge from Kamschatka to Formosa.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Symbol of the Dragon and Ways to Shape Cultural Identities in Institute Working Vietnam and Japan Paper Series
    2015 - HARVARD-YENCHING THE SYMBOL OF THE DRAGON AND WAYS TO SHAPE CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN INSTITUTE WORKING VIETNAM AND JAPAN PAPER SERIES Nguyen Ngoc Tho | University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City THE SYMBOL OF THE DRAGON AND WAYS TO SHAPE 1 CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN VIETNAM AND JAPAN Nguyen Ngoc Tho University of Social Sciences and Humanities Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City Abstract Vietnam, a member of the ASEAN community, and Japan have been sharing Han- Chinese cultural ideology (Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism etc.) and pre-modern history; therefore, a great number of common values could be found among the diverse differences. As a paddy-rice agricultural state of Southeast Asia, Vietnam has localized Confucianism and absorbed it into Southeast Asian culture. Therefore, Vietnamese Confucianism has been decentralized and horizontalized after being introduced and accepted. Beside the local uniqueness of Shintoism, Japan has shared Confucianism, the Indian-originated Mahayana Buddhism and other East Asian philosophies; therefore, both Confucian and Buddhist philosophies should be wisely laid as a common channel for cultural exchange between Japan and Vietnam. This semiotic research aims to investigate and generalize the symbol of dragons in Vietnam and Japan, looking at their Confucian and Buddhist absorption and separate impacts in each culture, from which the common and different values through the symbolic significances of the dragons are obviously generalized. The comparative study of Vietnamese and Japanese dragons can be enlarged as a study of East Asian dragons and the Southeast Asian legendary naga snake/dragon in a broader sense. The current and future political, economic and cultural exchanges between Japan and Vietnam could be sped up by applying a starting point at these commonalities.
    [Show full text]
  • Myths & Legends of Japan
    Myths & Legends Of Japan By F. Hadland Davis Myths & Legends of Japan CHAPTER I: THE PERIOD OF THE GODS In the Beginning We are told that in the very beginning "Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided." This reminds us of other cosmogony stories. The In and Yo, corresponding to the Chinese Yang and Yin, were the male and female principles. It was more convenient for the old Japanese writers to imagine the coming into being of creation in terms not very remote from their own manner of birth. In Polynesian mythology we find pretty much the same conception, where Rangi and Papa represented Heaven and Earth, and further parallels may be found in Egyptian and other cosmogony stories. In nearly all we find the male and female principles taking a prominent, and after all very rational, place. We are told in theNihongi that these male and female principles "formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs." Eventually this egg was quickened into life, and the purer and clearer part was drawn out and formed Heaven, while the heavier element settled down and became Earth, which was "compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water." A mysterious form resembling a reed-shoot suddenly appeared between Heaven and Earth, and as suddenly became transformed into a God called Kuni-toko- tachi, ("Land-eternal-stand-of-august-thing"). We may pass over the other divine births until we come to the important deities known as Izanagi and Izanami ("Male-who-invites" and "Female-who-invites").
    [Show full text]
  • Ghenko, the Mongol Invasion of Japan
    1 GHENKO THE MONGOL INVASION OF JAPAN HOJO TOKIMUNE. GHENKO THE MONGOL INVASION OF JAPAN BY NAKABA YAMADA, B.A. (Cantab.) WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY LORD ARMSTRONG WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS LONDON SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE 1916 [All rights reserved] *L\ 3 Y PREFACE evening in the summer before last, I ONEwas sitting in the reading-room of my College in Cambridge, when a small " " book entitled Westward Ho ! caught my eye. I was greatly attracted by its contents. In the mellowing light of the sun, I perused the book page after page, until my attention was diverted by the dining-bell from the hall. Ending my perusal, however, I stood a while with the pleasant memory of what I had read. One of my friends told me at table that that book was one of the great works of Charles Kingsley, and well worth reading. Having ob- tained a new copy, I finished the reading before long. It was from this reading that I acquired the idea of writing this book. My first intention was " to describe the historical event of the Mongol " " Invasion of Japan in such a novel as Westward " Ho ! But I have found it better to write an authentic, straightforward history rather than to use the medium of fiction. For the facts, which v 348467 PREFACE would be used as the basis of an historical novel, are not known to our Western friends as a whole, as the Chino-Japanese war or the Russo- war has been this is Japanese ; probably owing both to the remoteness of the events and the difficulties of research work, in a field so far removed in time and place.
    [Show full text]
  • A POPULAR DICTIONARY of Shinto
    A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF Shinto A POPULAR DICTIONARY OF Shinto BRIAN BOCKING Curzon First published by Curzon Press 15 The Quadrant, Richmond Surrey, TW9 1BP This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” Copyright © 1995 by Brian Bocking Revised edition 1997 Cover photograph by Sharon Hoogstraten Cover design by Kim Bartko All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-203-98627-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-7007-1051-5 (Print Edition) To Shelagh INTRODUCTION How to use this dictionary A Popular Dictionary of Shintō lists in alphabetical order more than a thousand terms relating to Shintō. Almost all are Japanese terms. The dictionary can be used in the ordinary way if the Shintō term you want to look up is already in Japanese (e.g. kami rather than ‘deity’) and has a main entry in the dictionary. If, as is very likely, the concept or word you want is in English such as ‘pollution’, ‘children’, ‘shrine’, etc., or perhaps a place-name like ‘Kyōto’ or ‘Akita’ which does not have a main entry, then consult the comprehensive Thematic Index of English and Japanese terms at the end of the Dictionary first.
    [Show full text]
  • Asiatic Society of Japan
    http://e-asia.uoregon.edu TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN VOL XLVI.-PART II 1918 THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN, KEIOGIJIKU, MITA, TŌKYŌ AGENTS KELLY & WALSH, L'd., Yokohama, Shanghai, Hongkong Z. P. MARUYA Co., L'd., Tokyo KEGAN PAUL,TRUEBNER & Co., L'd., London TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN VOL XLVI.-PART II 1918 THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN, KEIOGIJIKU, MITA, TŌKYŌ AGENTS KELLY & WALSH, L'd., Yokohama, Shanghai, Hongkong Z. P. MARUYA Co., L'd., Tokyo KEGAN PAUL,TRUEBNER & Co., L'd., London INTRODUCTION. Subject and Structure .---The Heike Monogatari, one of the masterpieces of Japanese literature, and also one of the main sources of the history of the Gempei period, is a poetic narrative of the fall of the Heike from the position of supremacy it had gained under Taira Kiyomori to almost complete destruction. The Heike, like the Genji, was a warrior clan, but had quickly lost its hardy simplicity under the influence of life in the Capital, and identified itself almost entirely with the effeminate Fujiwara Courtiers whose power it had usurped, so that the struggle between it and the Genji was really more one between courtiers and soldiers, between literary officials and military leaders. Historically this period stands between the Heian era of soft elegance and the Kamakura age of undiluted militarism. The Heike were largely a clan of emasculated Bushi, and their leader Kiyomori, though he obtained his supremacy by force of arms, assumed the role of Court Noble and strove to rule the country by the same device of making himself grandfather to the Emperor as the Fujiwara family had previously done.
    [Show full text]
  • Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation
    JAPAN: AN ATTEMPT AT INTERPRETATION BY LAFCADIO HEARN 1904 Contents CHAPTER PAGE I. DIFFICULTIES.........................1 II. STRANGENESS AND CHARM................5 III. THE ANCIENT CULT....................21 IV. THE RELIGION OF THE HOME............33 V. THE JAPANESE FAMILY.................55 VI. THE COMMUNAL CULT...................81 VII. DEVELOPMENTS OF SHINTO.............107 VIII. WORSHIP AND PURIFICATION...........133 IX. THE RULE OF THE DEAD...............157 X. THE INTRODUCTION OF BUDDHISM.......183 XI. THE HIGHER BUDDHISM................207 XII. THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION............229 XIII. THE RISE OF THE MILITARY POWER.....259 XIV. THE RELIGION OF LOYALTY............283 XV. THE JESUIT PERIL...................303 XVI. FEUDAL INTEGRATION.................343 XVII. THE SHINTO REVIVAL.................367 XVIII. SURVIVALS..........................381 XIX. MODERN RESTRAINTS..................395 XX. OFFICIAL EDUCATION.................419 XXI. INDUSTRIAL DANGER..................443 XXII. REFLECTIONS........................457 APPENDIX...........................481 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES..............487 INDEX..............................489 "Perhaps all very marked national characters can be traced back to a time of rigid and pervading discipline" --WALTER BAGEHOT. [1] DIFFICULTIES A thousand books have been written about Japan; but among these,--setting aside artistic publications and works of a purely special character,--the really precious volumes will be found to number scarcely a score. This fact is due to the immense difficulty of perceiving and comprehending what underlies the surface of Japanese life. No work fully interpreting that life,--no work picturing Japan within and without, historically and socially, psychologically and ethically,--can be written for at least another fifty years. So vast and intricate the subject that the united labour of a generation of scholars could not exhaust it, and so difficult that the number of scholars willing to devote their time to it must always be small.
    [Show full text]
  • Fine Japanese and Korean Art I New York I March 20, 2019
    Fine Japanese and Korean Art and Korean Fine Japanese I New York I March 20, 2019 I March I New York 25415 Fine Japanese and Korean Art New York I March 20, 2019 Fine Japanese and Korean Art New York | Wednesday March 20 2019, at 1pm BONHAMS BIDS INQUIRIES CLIENT SERVICES 580 Madison Avenue +1 (212) 644 9001 Japanese Art Department Monday – Friday 9am-5pm New York, New York 10022 +1 (212) 644 9009 fax Jeffrey Olson, Director +1 (212) 644 9001 bonhams.com [email protected] +1 (212) 461 6516 +1 (212) 644 9009 fax [email protected] PREVIEW To bid via the internet please visit ILLUSTRATIONS www.bonhams.com/25415 Thursday March 14 Takako O’Grady, Front cover: Lot 247 10am to 5pm Administrator Inside front cover: Lot 289 Friday March 15 Please note that bids should be +1 (212) 461 6523 Back cover: Lot 390 10am to 5pm summited no later than 24hrs [email protected] Inside back cover: Lot 287 Saturday March 16 prior to the sale. New bidders 10am to 5pm must also provide proof of Sunday March 17 identity when submitting bids. REGISTRATION 10am to 5pm Failure to do this may result in IMPORTANT NOTICE your bid not being processed. Monday March 18 Please note that all customers, 10am to 5pm irrespective of any previous activity Tuesday March 19 LIVE ONLINE BIDDING IS with Bonhams, are required to 10am to 3pm AVAILABLE FOR THIS SALE complete the Bidder Registration Please email bids.us@bonhams. Form in advance of the sale. The SALE NUMBER: 25415 com with “Live bidding” in form can be found at the back the subject line 48hrs before of every catalogue and on our the auction to register for this website at www.bonhams.com CATALOG: $35 service.
    [Show full text]
  • Panthéon Japonais
    Liste des divinités et des héros des légendes et de la mythologie japonaises Divinité Kami (m) Kami (f) Esprit Bouddhisme Monstre Animal Humain Acala Déité bouddhique du mikkyo, maître immuable associé au feu et à la colère; il est l'un des cinq rois du savoir. Agyo-zo Dans le bouddhisme japonais, Agyo-zo et Ungyo-zo se tiennent à la porte des édifices pour les protéger. Aizen myo-o Déité du bouddhisme japonais qui purifie les hommes des désirs terrestres et les libère de l'illusion. Il est représenté en rouge vif (passion), avec trois yeux, six bras et un air irritée, Il tient à la main un arc et des flèches ou un crochet. Ajisukitakahikone ou Aji-Shiki ou Kamo no Omikami Kami de l'agriculture, de la foudre et des serpents. Il créa la montagne Moyama dans la province de Mino en piétinant une maison de deuil parce qu'on l'avait pris pour le défunt. Akashagarbha Un des treize bouddhas de l’école tantrique japonaise Shingon Ama no Fuchigoma Cheval mythique de Susanoo qui est décrit dans le Nihon-Shoki . Ama no Kagaseo Autre nom de Amatsu Mikaboshi le kami du mal Ame no Tajikarao Kami des exercices physiques et de la force brutale qui dégagea l'entrée de la grotte où Amatersu s'était réfugiée. Amakuni Forgeron légendaire qui forgea le tachi, l'épée courbe ancêtre de Takana. Ama no Zako Monstrueuse kami née des vomissures de Susanoo Amaterasu Kami du soleil et reine des Hautes Plaines Célestes Amatsu mikaboshi Kami du mal Ame no Oshido Mimi Fils d'Amaterasu qui refusa d'aller gouverner la terre qu'il trouvait trop pleine de cMhaos.
    [Show full text]
  • History Behind the Art of Karate
    HISTORY BEHIND OUR ARTS by Akihiro Omi "It is doubtful whether the Japanese people and the country as a whole can really be understood or appreciated by anyone without a degree of knowledge of their martial culture." (Donn F. Draeger, Classical Bujutsu. New York: Weatherhill, Inc., 1973) INTRODUCTION Both Kendo (the Way of the Sword) and Karate-do (the Way of Empty-hands) are deeply rooted in a rich tradition of Japanese warrior culture. To understand the tradition and the philosophies that our sports and arts represent, we must first visit the origin of budo, Japanese martial arts, and trace the path on which it was formed. 1. The Birth of Japan The land around the current Japanese islands was formed about 70 million years ago. According to archaeologists, humans lived on the land as early as 2.5 million years ago. During the last ice age (50,000 to 10,000 years ago), a massive movement of the earth separated the land from the Eurasian Continent, and the Japanese islands were formed. This geographical isolation from the continent provided the Japanese with protection and the opportunity to develop their own unique culture. From 10,000 B.C through 300 B.C., the prehistoric peoples of Japan followed a hunting and gathering way of life. Collective farming began around 300 B.C., triggering the development of irrigation systems and iron-edged tools which increased harvests, in turn stimulating a massive population explosion. As social hierarchies and political structures developed, competition and warfare between villages intensified. Bronze and iron weapons were initially obtained from the continent, but soon the Japanese were making their own weapons such as swords, pikes, and spears.
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Fairy World
    J A P A NE S E FAI RY WO LD R . STO m ow TH E WONDE R— DORE O J RIES F APAN . WI L L I AM E L L I OT R F F G I IS , “ ’ A U TH OR OF TH E M I K AD O S E M P I R E . I L T Y F L U S W I . R A T E D B O Z A A , O T O K O S H E Y C EN C TAD , N. Y . H Y E . J A M E S H . B A R T E PRE FAC . - m The thirty four stor ies i n clud ed within this volu e d o not us e th e b oo r even efu or cen ou s ill trat l dy, g l li ti e emen s w whi ch Ja n ese o u a and uven e l t , ith pa p p l r, j il e a u Th ese h ve been c efu lit r t re i s saturated . a ar lly avo e id d . I t i s l h h a v ew to the s c h n to a so rat er wit i arti ti , t a th e e a o u c s Of th e ma n a on Of Ja n h a lit r ry, pr d t i gi ti pa , t t th e n n F om m fi ac u n sel ectio h as bee made .
    [Show full text]
  • The Development of Kaji Kito in Nichiren Shu Buddhism Kyomi J
    The Development of Kaji Kito in Nichiren Shu Buddhism Kyomi J. Igarashi Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Religion April 2012 Copyright 2012 Kyomi J. Igarashi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Professor Kodera for his guidance and all that he has taught me throughout my four years at Wellesley College. I could not have written this thesis or taken on this topic of my interest without his encouragement and words of advice. I would like to acknowledge the Religion Department for funding me on my trip to Japan in December 2011 to do research for my thesis. I would also like to thank Reverend Ekyo Tsuchida for his great assistance and dedication during my trip to Japan in finding important information and setting up interviews for me, without which I could not have written this thesis. I am forever grateful for your kindness. I express my gratitude to Reverend Ryotoku Miyagawa, Professor Akira Masaki and Professor Daijo Takamori for kindly offering their expertise and advice as well as relevant sources used in this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge Reverend Honyo Okuno for providing me with important sources as well as giving me the opportunity to observe the special treasures exhibited at the Kuonji Temple in Mount. Minobu. Last but not least, I would like to extend my appreciation to my father, mother and younger brother who have always supported me in all my decisions and endeavors. Thank you for the support that you have given me. ii ABSTRACT While the historical and religious roots of kaji kito (“ritual prayer”) lay in Indian and Chinese Esoteric Buddhist practices, the most direct influence of kaji kito in Nichiren Shu Buddhism, a Japanese Buddhist sect founded by the Buddhist monk, Nichiren (1222-1282), comes from Shingon and Tendai Buddhism, two traditions that precede Nichiren’s time.
    [Show full text]
  • India-Japan Cultural Syncretism Reflected in Japanese Pantheon of Deities Siddharth Singh Director, Vivekananda Cultural Centre
    India-Japan Cultural syncretism reflected in Japanese Pantheon of deities Siddharth Singh Director, Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Embassy of India, Tokyo “India is culturally, Mother of Japan. For centuries it has, in her own characteristic way, been exercising her influence on the thought and culture of Japan. …..without Indian influence, Japanese culture would not be what it is today. As most Japanese profess the Buddhist faith, needless to say, they have generally been influenced by Indian ideas to a great extent.” [1] Hajime Nakamura “It is very important for the Japanese to know that in the bottom of Japanese culture, Indian culture is very firmly imprinted.”[2] Yasukuni Enoki, Former Ambassador of Japan to India It is pertinent to know how closely Indian culture is embedded in the Japanese past and present and a bright example of such deeper linkages is Japanese temples containing the statues of various deities. Numerous major and minor deities, ubiquitously present in Japanese temples, have their origin in the ancient Indian pantheon of gods and goddesses, but since these deities were introduced to Japan via China with Chinese names, Japanese people, in most of the cases, are unaware of their origins. There are well-theorized claims that establish the introduction of Indian culture to Japan even before the formal introduction of Buddhism from Korea in 552 CE. According to the Book of Liang, which was written in 635, five Buddhist monks from the Gandhara region of India traveled to Japan during the Kofun period (250-538 CE) in 467 CE. [3] After the arrival of Buddhism, Aryadhamma, a Buddhist monk from Rajgriha (Bihar, India) seems to have entered Japan via China in 645 CE,[4] much before Bodhisena’s arrival at Naniwa (Osaka).
    [Show full text]