Copyright © 2007 by Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online Books, Ltd. Japanese Religion—The Ebook. Robert Ellwood. ISBN 0-9747055-8-6 (ebook) Contents Preface 4 Chapter 1: Encountering the Japanese Religious World: Introduction 6 In this chapter 6 Main questions and topics covered 6 Why Study Japanese Religion? 7 Japanese Language 17 Observing Religion in Japan 19 What Is Religion? 22 How Religious Is Japan? 31 Key Points You Need To Know 35 Further Reading 36 Chapter 2: The Past in the Present: Vignettes of Japanese Spiritual Life 38 In this chapter 38 Main topics covered 38 The Daijosai 39 A Typical Shinto Shrine 43 The Great Buddha of Nara 46 Toji Shingon Temple 48 The Enryakuji 51 Chionin 53 Higashi Honganji 55 Daitokuji 57 Nichiren Buddhism 59 The Martyrs Monument in Nagasaki 62 Tenri City 63 Postscript: Jizo 65 Key Points You Need To Know 67 Chapter 3: The Way of the Kami: Shinto Then and Now 69 In this chapter 69 Main topics covered 69 The Grand Shrine of Ise 70 What Is a Kami? 73 The Inari and Miwa Shrines 75 The Meiji, Togo, and Nogi Shrines 78 The Yasukuni and Tenjin Shrines 80 The Shinto Year 82 General Features of Shinto 85 The Meaning of Shinto 95 Key Points You Need To Know 96 Further Reading 96 Interlude: Introduction to Buddhism 99 In this section 99 Main topics covered 99 The Enlightened One 99 Mahayana Buddhism 106 Yogacara 111 Key Points You Need To Know 113 Further Reading 114 Chapter 4: Early Times: Pre-Buddhist Japan and How Buddhism Arrived 116 In this chapter 116 Main topics covered 116 Japan Before Buddhism 117 The Nara Period (710-794) 125 Elite and Popular Buddhism 127 Key Points You Need To Know 130 Further Reading 131 Chapter 5: Magic Mountains and the Old Court: Heian Buddhism and its Culture 133 In this chapter 133 Main Topics Covered 133 The World Above the Clouds 133 Heian Buddhist Schools 138 Shingon 139 Tendai 149 Heian Shinto 154 Heian Popular Religion 156 Key Points You Need To Know 159 Further Reading 160 Chapter 6: Warrior Culture, Simple Faith: The Kamakura Buddhist Reformation 163 In this chapter 163 Main topics covered 163 The End of an Age 163 The New Men 165 The World of the Samurai 167 Motifs of Kamakura Religion 170 Pure Land 173 Honen and Jodo-Shu 177 Shinran and Jodo Shinshu 180 Nichiren 184 Six Places of Rebirth 190 The Letter of Hojo Shigetoki 192 Key Points You Need To Know 193 Further Reading 193 Chapter 7: Swords and Satori: Zen and its Culture 197 In this chapter 197 Main topics covered 197 A Zen Experience 197 Basic Zen 204 Eisai and Rinzai Zen 207 Muromachi Zen Culture 214 Bushido 226 Later Zen 228 Overseas Zen 232 Key Points You Need To Know 234 Further Reading 235 Chapter 8: Christ and Confucius: The West Arrives, and then Japan Turns Inward 239 In this chapter 239 Main topics covered 239 The Country at War 239 The Warlords and the Coming of Christianity 243 The Tokugawa Peace 250 A Neo-Confucian Society 251 Peasant Philosophers 257 The Renewal of Shinto 258 Pilgrimage to Ise 261 Religion and Popular Culture 263 Town and Country 265 Key Points You Need To Know 269 Further Reading 269 Chapter 9: The Rising Sun and the Dark Valley: From the Meiji Restoration until 1945 272 In this chapter 272 Main topics covered 272 Behind the The Meiji Restoration 272 Between Two Worlds 274 The Old and the New 276 The Emperor as Religion 282 Meiji Buddhism 284 Christianity Returns to Japan 290 The Dark Valley 291 National Foundations 295 Key Points You Need To Know 299 Further Reading 300 Chapter 10: Chanting and Dancing: Shugendo and the “New Religions” of Japan 303 In this chapter 303 Main topics covered 303 Tenrikyo 308 Konkokyo 313 The Omoto Group 315 The Nichiren Group 321 The “New” New Religions 329 Common Characteristics of the New Religions 334 Key Points You Need To Know 337 Further Reading 338 Chapter 11: Pilgrimages: Religion in Japan 1945 to Now 342 In this chapter 342 Main topics covered 342 Religion Under the Occupation 342 New Thinking About Buddhism 348 New Roles for Buddhist Women 349 Tradition Continues 352 Homelands of the Heart 353 Spiritual Achievement 357 Symbols and Forms 362 The Sacred in the Ordinary 369 Japan a New World Center of Popular Culture 369 Key Points You Need To Know 375 Further Reading 376 Appendix I: Membership figures for Japanese Religions 380 Appendix II: Japanese Religion Timeline 384 Appendix III: Japanese Religion Glossary 393 Preface This volume is intended to present both information about the religion traditions of Japan and an experi- ence of their world. For that reason it contains data, descriptions, quotations, anecdotes, and a few philo- sophical reflections. It is hoped also that working with this book will introduce students to some academic ways of looking at the religions of the world. Japanese Religions: The eBook should be accessible to all mo- tivated college and university students, whether they have had previous courses in Japanese or Religious Studies topics or not. Nonetheless, a little background reading in Japanese history, and in Buddhism and Con- fucianism, would obviously be helpful. Some students may have had more background in European and American history than in Japanese. To my mind, at least, despite very minimal direct contact until modern times, interesting parallels between Japa- nese and western social, intellectual, and religious his- tory, from the feudal Middle Ages on up, suggest them- selves; a few speculations in this direction appear. Each chapter is followed by a list of study ques- tions and a short representative bibliography. More specialized books and articles will be found cited in the notes; they are also generally recommended for further research. Much information can now be found online as well. Japanese names are given in the Japanese way, with surname first, except in the case of authors of English-language, or translated, books (e.g. Susumu Shimazono), in which case the name is given as it ap- pears on the book’s title page and in library catalogs. It should be noted, however, that many premodern Japanese historical figures are normally referred to by their given name (e.g. Ieyasu rather than Tokugawa Ireyasu), and after first identification they are so named here. Also, Buddhist teachers and writers usually go by their name in religion rather than their birth-name, and to make matters more confusing, sometimes change that name to mark different ordinations or stages of life, including a posthumous (after-death) name (e.g. Saeki Mao? birth-name; Kukai, religious name; Kobo daishi, posthumous name). For the sake of clarity, the name most commonly recognized (e.g. Shinran, Nichi- ren, Basho) is used consistently, regardless of whether the individual actually was known by that name at the point in life under discussion. May your studies be an adventure in the explora- tion of a unique world culture! It is hoped this little book will be only a beginning. Obviously, in an intro- duction like this many facets of the tremendously var- ied world of Japanese religion can only be hinted at, or pointed toward. Perhaps you will be intrigued enough to make one of those topics the subject of a paper, or even for further research later on. Robert Ellwood 10 Preface Contents | Preface: start | end Chapter 1 Encountering the Japanese Religous World: Introduction In this chapter ...we present something of the “feel” of Japan as a special country of great interest to the student of religion and culture. Japanese religion can be studied for a variety of reasons, whether for its own sake, as an aid to understanding Japanese history and culture, or as a means to understand religion better as a general human experience. We will see that the Japanese language helps us to compre- hend this culture’s complex history and religious mix. Mircea Eliade’s concept of the Sacred and the Profane, and Joachim Wach’s three forms of religious expression (theoretical, practical, and so- ciological), plus three more (art, ethics, and histo- ry), give us tools for approaching Japanese religion. However, we need to think carefully about what we mean by religion, and whether one’s own prior way of thinking about religion applies fully to Japan. Main questions and topics covered • Reasons for studying Japanese religion • The Japanese language helps one see how Japanese cul- ture is a weave of several strands, both native and imported • Religion is not easy to define, but — with Japan partic- ularly in mind — can be thought of first of all as symbols and experiences which enhace life and put it in a larger context of meaning. • We will look at Japanese religion in terms of its theoret- ical, practical, and sociological forms of expression, and then in terms of its art, ethics, and history • Many people say that Japan is not very religious, and yet shrines, temples, and related activities seem to abound. Answers to this paradox tell us may tell us some significant about how the Japanese tend to think about religion. Why Study Japanese Religion? Japan is unique. No one visiting the island nation and keeping eyes and ears open more than fifteen minutes could have any doubt of that. The language sounds like no other. As one travels, before long the distinc- tive torii or curved archways marking a Shinto shrine pop into sight, perhaps even atop a modern depart- ment store. Not long after, one espies the peaceful precincts of a Buddhist temple, with its fierce-looking but benign guardian deities.