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JAPAN: CULTURAL VARIATION and RELIGIONS by Dharmadeva

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JAPAN: CULTURAL VARIATION and RELIGIONS by Dharmadeva JAPAN: CULTURAL VARIATION AND RELIGIONS by Dharmadeva Introduction Culture covers many areas of activity in the community. By looking at a one or a few activities it is possible to gain some understanding of variations in that field of activity and an appreciation of the consciousness of the masses in a society. Often that cultural domain will be reflective of other aspects of culture in the society, and of the society as a whole. Looking at religion is a good starting point as it directly or indirectly deals, or attempts to deal, with deeper sentiments of the human psyche. In Japan it can be said that there are ‘gods’ (kami) everywhere – gods of the mountains, gods of the rice paddies, gods of the rivers, gods for each area, and villages have several shrines for these gods. Even the Emperor, representing one Japan, was considered a God until after World War II. But what does this say about Japan? On one extreme there is a multitude of potential images in folk culture representing diversity and on the other extreme there is an overarching sovereign or centralised homogeneity. How does this fit together? One can go back to when Japan adopted Buddhist thought in the 6th century alongside the existing Shintoism. This adoption did not relinquish the indigenous Shinto thought. Rather, people came to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. Both are considered as the ‘wellsprings’ of Japanese spirituality1. Today, as a result of this fusion, it is common for people to go to both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. This reflects the multiple layers of Japanese culture. These layers include the old and new, and the foreign and indigenous. History shows that foreign cultural elements can be readily included by the Japanese without discarding indigenous customs and traditions, and by doing so it still results in something uniquely Japanese. It is proven in religion and also in music and musical instruments. Interestingly this occurs in a society that claims to be homogenous, emphasising being Japanese as compared to foreign (gaijin)2. Regulated diversity in a homogeneous controlled environment Japan does have regional diversity in terms of folk culture. Indigenous or traditional customs (shûzoku) display their own autonomous activities at one level, but there is strong influence being exerted at a higher institutional level. For example, local religious teachers obtain their credentials from established religious organizations (even if through local branch organizations) or require official government recognition of their sect. They become professional religious specialists affiliated with a particular Shinto sect, eg Tenrikyô, Ontakekyô or Konkôkyô forming part of the Kyôha Shinto grouping that has a monotheistic perspective rather than being focused on animism and ancestor worship. But at the folk level there also exists ‘fortune tellers’ (baibokusha or uranaishi), so-called mountain practitioners (yamabushi) and ascetics (gyôja) under the influence of the Shûgendô related groups, 1 Watt, P. ‘Shinto & Buddhism: Wellsprings of Japanese Spirituality’, Asia Society's Focus on Asian Studies, Vol. II, No. 1, Asian Religions, 1982, pp. 21-23. 2 Weiner, M. (ed). Japan’s Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity. Routledge, London, 1997. a syncretic religion organised around ancient mountain religions and drawing on elements from Buddhism and Shinto. Nevertheless, despite this apparent variety, Japan has a history of the ruling government determining what is ‘established religion’. In 1868 government intervention ordered the separation of Buddhism and Shinto. Furthermore, the government policy of the Meiji period (1868-1912) was to establish the institution of Kokka Shintô or State Shinto3, as compared to sectarian Shinto (Kyôha Shintô), in order to unify the practices of shrine worship on a national level. This caused alienation and the majority of the populace saw new sects as abject, in much the same way that new religions are viewed in Japan today. Village Shinto shrines and their priests who were not part of the State decree were considered ‘non-religious’ elements of the local community. Aspects of State influence or power are also found in Zen Buddhism4. While, on the one hand, the Buddhist notion of meditation (zazen) emphasises simplicity, which has helped to shape an aesthetics found throughout Japanese culture, it is also, on the other hand, found in the philosophy of the samurai which shows an early medieval relationship between Zen and swordsmanship and links to protection of the State5 and upholding State power. In this regard, monasteries sometimes had their own standing armies and used brutal physical methods for shocking student adepts as part of the training of soldiers, thereby instilling notions of both sacrifice and submission – traits evident today in the Japanese psychology. Due, in part, to people having lived for centuries under centralised governments regulating their lives in detail, the primary importance has traditionally been to the group rather than on the individual. This cultural pattern has been seen since the establishment of the Emperor System of the Meiji period, around 1890, that integrated the educational system, military system and family life. It replaced a spontaneous, regional and diverse collectivity with an artificial homogeneous collectivity that blessed the authority of the State and the Emperor and from there the corporate employer. The multiplicity of Japanese folk culture was significantly reduced by this Emperor System6. The Emperor System represents a type of transcendental function under which people are coerced or persuaded into submitting to a collective conformity, regulating not only the form of the State but also the form of people's consciousness. Despite this, Japan has been the subject of continuous development of new Shinto sects (and to a lesser degree Buddhist sects) falling under the umbrella of so-called new religious developments. To one degree or another, these have also been opposed by the State apparatus. Women have played a role in new religious developments as well. It was Deguchi Nao who in the Meiji period founded the Omotokyo7 based on her spiritual possession (kamigakari) believing herself to be the messenger of a powerful god who was preparing to cleanse the world of evil in society and establish a 3 Toshiaki, H. ‘The Origin of Rites of Worship Within The Local Community’ [‘Buraku saishi no kigen’], Shintô shûkyô, 70-71, 1973, pp. 1-10. 4 Suzuki, D.T. Zen and Japanese Culture, Reprint, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 2000 (reprint). 5Victoria, B.A. Zen at War, Weatherhill, 1998. 6 Kogawa, T. ‘Japan as a Manipulated Society’, Telos, no. 49, 1981, pp. 138-140. 7 Ooms, E.G. Women and the Millenarian Protest in Meiji Japan, Cornell University East Asia Program, Ithaca NY, 1993. utopia. This was a religion outside conventional Japanese thought. The Ômoto movement attracted intellectuals and members of the military, and its teachings spread widely. It was suppressed by the government in 1921 and 1935 by arresting leaders and destroying the group's headquarters, dissolving their organisations, and placing restraints on its activities. Since then it has re-emerged and introduced activities focusing on world peace. It has not been unusual for Japanese authority to attempt to squash new religious movements. A new religious boom began in Japan in the mid-1970s8. New religious movements gained large numbers of members and people identified with them because they reflected changes occurring in modern Japan. Adaptation and new orientations toward rituals, teachings and organisational issues became evident. However, they were still basically grounded in Japanese traditional religious concepts and practices, but could respond more specifically to modern society in contrast to the established religious organisations. In some cases individuals form the centre of faddish religious popularity when they pronounce themselves as preceptors or persons with healing powers. The Aum Shinrikyo sect lead by Shoko Asahara was one example of the 1990s. It was fundamentally Buddhist, embraced modern technology such as satellite TV and had a charismatic leader. Its use of terror and deception, however, lead to its downfall and the arrest of its leader in relation to gas attacks in 19959. The Emperor reigns supreme Religion can indeed be used as a powerful tool in Japanese governance and can be used as a tool to divide and rule. The notion of ‘established religions’ of Japan is really a type of invention and stems from an artificial construct promoted by the Tokugawa government (1603-1868) as part of its system of political and ideological control, particularly aimed at the eradication of Christianity and other ‘dangerous thought’ considered detrimental to rule by the Tokugawa shogunate. Even Nichiren or True Buddhism which had been around since 1253 was largely prohibited and was not given official recognition until after World War Two. The Meiji period carried the idea of established religions through and the idea held sway right up to 1940 when the Japanese government established the Religious Organisation Law which aimed to unify all of Japan with Shintoism, giving the Emperor ‘divine power’. The mechanisms of the universal ‘main-branch temple system’ (honmatsu seido), family temple affiliation (terauke), legal approval to engage in professional religious practice from officially sanctioned sects of ‘established’ Buddhism (Zen, Jôdo, Jôdo Shinshû, Shingon, Tendai, Nichiren) or of Shinto (the Yoshida and Shirakawa families of ritualists) are remnants of this State control today. To avoid stigma, new religious organisations also seek to receive official certification as a member of a larger, officially recognised institution. It is intriguing to note how imperial motifs characterise the language and visions of established and new religions in Japan. For example, the founder of the post-war 8 Nobutaka, I. Recent Trends in the Study of Japanese New Religions, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, 1991, 1997. 9 Metraux, D.A. ‘Religious terrorism in Japan: the fatal appeal of Aum Shinrikyo’, Asian Survey, v35 n12, 1995 p.1140.
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