- Buddhism in Modern
Japan
- Bhikkhu Prayudh Payutto
I. Persecution and the
Modernization of Traditional Buddhism
Modern Japanese Buddhism began as a reaction against the
persecution under the Shinto nationalism of the Meiji Restoration of 2411/1868.
Under the persecution, Buddhist statues, scriptures and decorations were taken out of
Shinto temples and set on fire or thrown into the water for the purpose of purifying the
Shinto temples and separating Buddhism from Shinto. This was carried out at the time of
the opening of Japan to the outside world. Stimulated by the danger, the Buddhists united
in common action to resist and took steps to modernize. Leading monks of the various sects
adopted a modern system of education and gave modern education to the younger monks. They
founded schools and universities or reorganized their old temple schools and transformed
them into modern Buddhist universities.
An example of this development can be found in Otani
University of the Shin School in Kyoto. This institution was founded in 2198/1655 as a
study centre. After the opening of Japan, alterations and improvements were made in the
curriculum and it was transformed into a modern university in 2448/1905. Another example
is Ryokoku University of the Jodo School in Kyoto, which was founded as a temple school in
2182/1639, became subject to Western influences in the Meiji period, and was recognized as
a University in 2465/1922. All the great sects of Japanese Buddhism have developed their
own universities. In Kyoto, the Rinzai branch of the Zen School operates Hana-Zono
University, the Jodo School runs Bukkyo University, and the Shingon Sect owns Shuchfin
University. The Shingon Sect has another university on Mount Koya called Koyasan
University. In Tokyo, Kornazawa University of the Soto branch of Zen Buddhism was founded
as a temple school in 2302/1759 and raised to the status of a university in 2425/1882.
Also in Tokyo are Rissho University of the Nichiren Sect and Taisho University, which
serves the Jodo, the Tendai and the Shingon sects. Kyoto Women's University of the Shin
Sect in Kyoto has been designed specially for the education of women.
Japanese Buddhist education still maintains the
traditional close connection between study and meditation. Besides training monks and
priests for their special roles, Buddhist universities offer courses to laymen both in the
field of Buddhism and religious studies and in the field of secular studies. A number of
research institutes specializing in Buddhism or in oriental studies in general have also
been founded, such
as the Nippon Buddhist Research Association and the
Indogaku Bukkyogakukai (The Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies). With
modern educational and research methods, these Buddhist universities and research
institutes have been active in their task of preserving the great intellectual heritage of
Buddhism, advancing Buddhist studies, and keeping for Buddhism a significant place in the
modern intellectual life of the nation.
It should be noted that the persecution under Meiji
Restoration could not destroy Buddhism, though its status was much affected. Moreover, the
persecution did not last long and Buddhism shortly began to recover its strength. Besides
reaction on the part of the monks, there was a closely related reaction against
Europeanization and Christianity, which came about some time after the opening up of
Japanese life to European thought, culture and religion, and which led to the reaffirming
of the national religious traditions. Buddhism was then re-valued as its teachings were
found to be compatible with new discoveries and theories of modern science, such as
Darwin's theory of evolution. Buddhism was thus reaffirmed and its status was restored. In
spite of this, however, its influence on the national life of Japan was never as strong as
in the earlier ages. Generally speaking, the numerous sects were still attached to
traditionalism and their main efforts were directed toward maintaining their continuity in
the midst of growing secularism and the non-religious attitude of the intelligentsia. As a
desirable effect, Buddhist monasteries and temples have become the stronghold for
preserving the Buddhist cultural tradition and for resisting the secularizing elements of
westernization. As an undesirable effect, the scientific study of Buddhist philosophy
which made remarkable early progress slowed down and became confined to leading Buddhist
scholars, far beyond the understanding of the public and the interest of the highly
westernized intellectuals.
Another important development after the Meiji Restoration
was the practice of married priesthood. Under the disestablishment of Buddhism when
support was lacking, monks were forced to struggle to earn their living and to maintain
their temples. They became lax in monastic discipline. Moreover, there was a decree issued
by the Meiji government allowing the clergy of all sects to marry. Today, not only priests
of the Shin and the Nichiren sects but nearly all Japanese priests live married lives.
Except for young monks under training, there are very few celibate monks in Japan.
Among the traditional sects, the Zen, Shin and Nichiren
sects are most prominent and most advanced in activities directed towards regaining
their lost position. Through their efforts, Japanese Buddhism has not only made
significant scholarly achievements, become energetically involved in education, social
work and humanitarian activities, and achieved an efficient confrontation with Western
philosophy and modern intellectual currents, but has also returned to the West with
Buddhist thought and ideas valued by and stimulating to the Western mind, and played a
leading part in international Buddhist activities. The three sects can count among their
followers, both priests and laymen, some of the ablest thinkers of the day. In the field
of international collaboration, more, or at 'least not fewer, names of Japanese scholars
can be found than those of any other Buddhist country. Numerous Japanese clergymen engage
in missionary activities in many countries, especially on the American continent, while a
number of Japanese professors are conducting courses in Buddhist studies in American
universities. More and more books and articles on Buddhism are being' published in Western
languages. Through his writings and lectures, Dr. D.T. Suzuki, a Japanese Zen priest and
scholar, has exercised on Western thought and culture a deeper and wider influence than
any other individual Buddhist.
II. The Emergence of the New
Religions
In spite of all these efforts and achievements, however,
the success of the traditional sects has been confined mostly to the academic and
scholarly field. In answering to the religious need of the populace, they are still at a
loss. They may be well known internationally but in their native land they fail to recover
their former influence on the Japanese national life. Their position was made even more
difficult by Japan's surrender in World War 11 when, as a reaction, a tendency was
developed to reject whatever was traditional. The oldness of these sects has thus resulted
in a natural loss of their appeal. It is the hope of these traditional sects that through
their intellectual pursuits they will find a channel through which they can achieve the
joining of the spiritual with the temporal and the revitalization of the teaching in a way
more fit to cope with the general trend of the age and civilization.
The defeat of Japan in World War II in 2488/1945 was
followed by the emperor's renunciation of his divine status and the disestablishment of
Shinto as the state religion. With the allowance of religious freedom and in the face of
mental crisis, the number of religious sects and sub-sects increased rapidly. The number
registered in 2488/1945 was 43. By 2494/1951, this had increased to 720. In 2504/1961 the
number dropped to 170. Of the number 720 in 2494/1951, 260 were Buddhist sects and
sub-sects. Again, of these 260, only five were the main sects which had more than one
million adherents, namely, Jodo, Shin, Zen, Shingon and Nichiren.
The new movements or the so-called New Religions have been
a development to fill the gap left by the traditional teachings. Most of them are
offshoots of the Nichiren sect. They have been rapidly attracting enthusiastic adherents.
Interestingly enough, it is mainly through the practice of certain popular rituals of
these new sects, and not through an intellectual role or scholarly achievements, that
Buddhism remains an active religion in Japan.
Most of these new sects or religions began with a
revelation and are centred on the personality of the founder or organizer. The founders
are usually believed to have unusual spiritual powers in divination, sorcery,
fortune-telling and healing, and to be able to work miracles. They usually teach simple
doctrines which appeal most to the lower middle class and the rural populace who are
inclined to superstitious beliefs and practices. The new sects are essentially lay
organizations, avoiding distinctions between lay believers and priests. They give their
followers a sense of belonging and promote mutual aid and public welfare, promising actual
mundane benefits here and now. Emphasis is placed on group meetings and the performance of
services, which are to be taken very seriously.
Among the new sects, the most prominent are the Rissho
Kosei Kai and the Soka Gakkai. These both arose out of the Nichiren sect. The Rissho
Kosei Kai (Society for Social Justice and Neighbourly Relations) was founded by a
sickly girl from a poor and lowly family who earned her living as a factory worker. It
claims a membership of approximately 3 million. The Soka Gakkai (Value-Creating
Society), which started in 2474/1-931 and had about 500 followers in 2483/1940, surpassed
in the 1960's all other Japanese religious orders, both old and new, in influence and
power. While among the great traditional sects, Shin Buddhism with all its ten sub-sects
claimed the largest following of about 14 million adherents, the Soka Gakkai alone had in
2508/1965 13 million members on its lists. The movement is militantly nationalistic and
has political activities. As its political party called the Korneito (Party of Social
Justice) has become Japan's third largest party, the Soka Gakkai has grown into a movement
of great political importance.
III. The General Picture
On the whole, Japanese Buddhism still maintains its
strength in the intelligentsia and the rural population. Zen is associated with the
culture preserved among the highly cultured people, is the spiritual strength of the
nation, and has a strong appeal to the intellectuals and the modern Western mind. For the
rural people, the popular sects of Amida [Amitabh] and the Lotus offer stronger appeal,
especially the Shin sect which has the greatest number of adherents. Superstitious beliefs
and practices are also widely accepted. As a characteristic of Japanese modernity, the
many new religions have emerged to meet the modern religious needs of the middle class.
Movements have grown among the Buddhists towards
cooperation and unification, and lay Buddhists have taken a more active part in religious
activities. This has resulted in the organization of the Japan Chapter of the World
Federation of Buddhists, the All Japan Young Buddhist Federation, and the Japan Buddhist
Women's Association. Representatives have been sent by the different sects to observe
conditions, practices and activities in other Buddhist countries. There are many
universities, colleges and schools operated or supported by Buddhist sects. Research
activities have been conducted actively in universities and research institutions such as
the Nippon Buddhist Research Association and the Japanese Association of Indian and
Buddhist Studies, by scholars using modern methods, on the whole field of Buddhist
literature in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese. Studies in the Indian
Buddhist sources and international contacts have also inspired a strong urge to return to
original Buddhism.
Statistically, with a Buddhist population of approximately
75 million, or about 85 percent of the whole population, and with about 80,000 Buddhist
temples attended by 200,000 priests, Japan is rightly called a Buddhist country. Through
the variety of Buddhist movements and efforts toward a revival, Japan of the post-war
period has thus experienced Buddhist vitality in various ways. There has grown a deepened
religious concern through works of Buddhist scholars devoted to the reinterpretation of
Buddhist ideas. There have been increased Buddhist social and political roles through lay
people taking a more active part in Buddhist organizations. With the coming of the
new-born sects, there has been a reawakening to the Buddhist social ideal to make up for
the faded social ethics of the old traditional sects, and a starting on a new course of
the development of political power. So far, the energies of the Japanese Buddhists have
been directed "not so much to the revival of the Buddhist culture as to the attempt
to preserve and consolidate it amidst the essentially alien and hostile environment of
modern life."[1]
Internationally, Japan's great contribution to the
progress of Buddhism cannot be underestimated. Through the works both of the Japanese and
of the Western scholars, the message of the Buddha has teen carried to the West. There, in
the light of modern studies, the interest has been ever increasing, both in the doctrine
and in the practice, especially in Zen psychology and meditation. If a special form of the
religion called Western Buddhism is ever developing in the West, it is Japanese Buddhism
that has made a great contribution to the process of the development. And it is this
contribution that, as a repayment, has helped to keep for Japan a dignified and respected
place in the realm of international relations.
Note:
[1] See P.V. Bapat (ed). 2500 years of Buddhism. (Publications
Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1971), p. 401.
Special thanks to
Phramaha Somnuek Saksree for retyping this article.