AUTUMN 2019, VOL. 46 FEATURES: Manga, Anime, and Contemporary Religion 2 Manga, Anime, and Contemporary Religion Dharma World presents Buddhism by Hiroshi Munehiro Niwano as a practical living religion and 3 Manga, Anime, and Religion promotes interreligious dialogue in Contemporary Japan for world peace. It espouses views by Jolyon B. Thomas that emphasize the dignity of life, 7 The Quest for Selfhood in seeks to rediscover our inner nature and bring our lives more in accord Manga and the Spirituality of Photo: AFLO with it, and investigates causes of Contemporary Japanese human suffering. It tries to show by Hara Takahashi how religious principles help solve 10 Manga: Fiction and Reality— problems in daily life and how the the Case of Hayao Miyazaki’s least application of such principles Shuna’s Journey has wholesome effects on the world by Martin Repp around us. It seeks to demonstrate truths that are fundamental to all 14 Wild Words and Pointy religions, truths on which all people Pictures: Hōben in Jirō Kuwata’s can act. Lotus Sutra Manga Photo: Courtesy of Daikyoji by Jon Holt Publisher: Koichi Saito Director: Naoki Taketani 19 “Translating” the Lotus Sutra in the University Classroom Senior Editor: Kazumasa Osaka by Aaron P. Proffitt Editor: Katsuyuki Kikuchi 24 Given the Gift of Life and Sustained by the Buddha Editorial Advisors: Dominick Scarangello, Miriam by Dominick Scarangello Levering, Michio T. Shinozaki 37 Because We Are Different Copy Editors: by Nichiko Niwano DeAnna Satre, Stephen Comee, 38 The Third Shift: The Long Journey to Unite Humanity Catherine Szolga and Heal Our Woundedness Editorial Staff: The Thirty-Sixth Niwano Peace Prize Acceptance address Eriko Kanao, Kensuke Suzuki by John Paul Lederach Subscription Staff: Kazuyo Okazaki 42 Following Days Layout and Design: Abinitio Design by Nikkyo Niwano THE THREEFOLD LOTUS SUTRA: A MODERN COMMENTARY Cover: Illustration: Leiji Matsumoto 45 The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law Photoshop work by Abinitio Design Chapter 27: The Story of King Resplendent Dharma World is published semiannually by Rissho Kosei-kai International, Fumon Media Center 3F, 2-7-1 Wada, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-8537. E-mail: [email protected]. Copyright © 2019 by Rissho Kosei-kai International. All rights reserved. Printed in Japan by Komiyama Printing Company. Change of Address: Please provide both old and new addresses. Six weeks’ advance notice is requested. Requests for permission to reprint all or part of any article in this issue must be made in writing to the editor of Dharma World. FEATURES Manga, Anime, and Contemporary Religion by Hiroshi Munehiro Niwano Hiroshi Munehiro Niwano is president The affirmation of life seen in the works of Tetsuya Chiba and the of Rissho Kosei-kai’s Gakurin Seminary concepts of universality and timelessness in the works of Leiji and chairperson of the Niwano Peace Matsumoto are also found in the message at the core of religion. Foundation, both in Tokyo. drawing manga, therefore, “you have to I grew up as a boy under the influence his own words] [Shueisha, 2014], 150). make sure that your work is informed by of manga and anime. One of my favor- According to the writer Shizuka Ijūin, an awareness of ideas, religions, beliefs, ites was Play Ball, which appeared in “the fundamental belief in humanity” national sentiments . and history.” This Weekly Shōnen Jump. This manga tells and the “truly believable, flesh and blood is because “depending on the country, the thrilling story of a boy called Takao affirmation of humanity” that permeate people may sometimes feel insulted. Taniguchi who gives up playing baseball all of Chiba’s works are the result of his I do not create works to hurt people” after fracturing a finger in junior high experiences in Manchuria, and “every (Seitan 80 shūnen kinen kanzen hozon school. He resumes playing in senior one of his works exhibits both a con- ban Matsumoto Reiji meisaku anime dai high school after managing to heal his temporaneity and a universal ‘affirma- kaibō [Leiji Matsumoto’s greatest works finger, and his weak school team is trans- tion of life’” (Sō-tokushū, Chiba Tetsuya dissected: The complete collector’s edition formed into one that can hold its own mangaka seikatsu 55 shūnen kinengō to commemorate the eightieth anniversary against the very strongest. I learned [Special issue to commemorate Tetsuya of his birth] [San-ei Shobo, 2018], 15). from Taniguchi and his friends that I Chiba’s fifty-five years as a manga artist] Matsumoto’s other great master- too could stand up to the strongest of [Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2011], 189). piece is Galaxy Express 999, the theme opponents by exceeding my own lim- One of Tetsuya Chiba’s old friends was of which is the “never ending journey.” its through devoted practice. Leiji Matsumoto, the original author of Boarding the Galaxy Express 999 is like Play Ball’s creator, Akio Chiba, had the space opera anime Space Battleship embarking on “an eternal journey with- an older brother, Tetsuya Chiba, who was Yamato. Matsumoto’s father was a major out end” and setting out together on a famous for illustrating the manga Ashita and army air corps pilot during World journey into the infinity of time and no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe). Originally writ- War II who was tormented until his space (Matsumoto Reiji mugen sōzō ten by Ikki Kajiwara under the pen name dying days by the thought that so many kidō 80th ANNIVERSARY kuronikuru Asao Takamori, Ashita no Joe tells the of the men under his command had lost [Eightieth anniversary chronicle of the story of a boxer called Joe Yabuki. The their lives in battle. Throughout his life, trajectory of Leiji Matsumoto’s infinite Chiba family was living in what was then Matsumoto’s father used to say that “peo- creativity] [Shogakukan, 2018], 172). Manchuria when World War II ended, ple were not born to die, they were born The “affirmation of humanity” and and Tetsuya Chiba drew on the harrow- to live,” and these words later became a “affirmation of life” observable in the ing experiences of their return to Japan to refrain of Space Battleship Yamato (“Ginga works of Tetsuya Chiba, the theme of create the character background for one tetsudō 999 shinsaku happyō Matsumoto “being born to live” observable in the of Joe’s opponents. Chiba has explained Reiji-san” [New work in Leiji Matsumoto’s works of Leiji Matsumoto, and the “uni- that the final scene of Ashita no Joe was Galaxy Express 999 series released], Tokyo versality that transcends national bor- intended to depict Joe in the moment Shimbun, March 17, 2018, evening edi- ders” and “timelessness that transcends that he burned out and “transcended tion, culture section). Matsumoto, who time and space”—all of these things may life and death” (Chiba Tetsuya ga kataru has a strong fan base overseas, feels that also be found in the message that lies “Chiba Tetsuya” [“Tetsuya Chiba” in “anime and manga are borderless.” When at the core of religion. ≥ 2 Dharma World Autumn 2019 FEATURES Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan by Jolyon B. Thomas Jolyon Baraka Thomas is Assistant Rather than seeing popular illustrated media as tools that Professor of Religious Studies at the transmit “pure” or “adulterated” religious content to passive University of Pennsylvania. He is the audiences, I think it is more productive to think of manga author of Faking Liberties: Religious and anime as a set of representational techniques designed Freedom in American-Occupied Japan to trigger visceral responses, elicit emotional reactions, and (University of Chicago Press, 2019) prompt intellectual reorientations. and Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan (University of Hawai`i Press, Contemporary Japan is a paradox as far temples, meticulously maintained road- 2012). He tweets @jolyonbt. as religion is concerned. side shrines (hokora) and rough-hewn On the one hand, Japan appears crossroads deities (dōsojin)—these num- I chose to study Japanese religions overwhelmingly religious. By the latest bers make Japan seem like one of the because I was fascinated by this conun- numbers compiled by the Japanese gov- most religious places on earth. drum. I wanted to know how things ernment, there are 180,853 discrete reli- On the other hand, research surveys that looked “religious” to me would be gious organizations in Japan that boast about individuals’ religious beliefs reveal a interpreted by people who did not think around 181,164,731 adherents. In other very different picture. According to these of themselves as particularly devout. I words, there is approximately one reli- numbers, only about 10 to 20 percent of thought that looking at religion in a gious organization for every thousand Japanese people describe themselves as seemingly unlikely place—popular illus- people in Japan, and the total number “religious,” and very few describe reli- trated media—might elicit some clarity of religious adherents in the country gion as being important. A majority of about how people could be irreligious equals about 1.4 times the national Japanese people regularly participate in and yet be attracted to religious ideas population. Combined with the ubiq- the cycle of events that punctuate the cal- or actively involved in ritual practices. uitous physical markers of Japanese reli- endar year (nenchū gyōji), visiting shrines I began my investigations by trying to gion—atmospheric shrines and imposing on New Year’s Day or cleaning ancestral find religious vocabulary and imagery graves at Buddhist temples on the ver- in manga and anime, presuming that nal and autumnal equinoxes (ohigan), Japanese audiences were acting or think- but most prefer to use words like cus- ing religiously even if they did not use tom or tradition to explain such behav- that word.