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Japanese Buddhism: Culture & Tradition

Explore the diverse practices and beliefs of Japanese Buddhism, from Pilgrimages to Annual Festivals, emphasizing the community aspects and historical significance. Learn about the unique Japanese conception of the afterlife and the rise of Buddhism in Japan through the ages.

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Japanese Buddhism: Culture & Tradition

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  1. Japanese Buddhism • Some kinds of Japanese Buddhist practice • “Funeral Buddhism” • “Community Buddhism” • Pilgrimage

  2. “Community Buddhism” • Annual festivals at local temples • Often relating to local history or the temple’s history • Takeda Shingen festival, Yamanashi • Taima festival at Taimadera • Local commemorations of common tradition • eg. O-bon festival

  3. Pilgrimage • Acting out the Buddhist path • Aimed at spiritual reassurance • Most famous; the Shikoku pilgrimage • Most often undertaken by the elderly • Other pilgrimages: • related to Kannon, for example

  4. The Shikoku Pilgrimage

  5. The Shikoku Pilgrimage

  6. Practice over doctrine • Practice matters most; always has • Many schools/sects of Buddhism • Differences in practice small • Most people have a formal affiliation with a temple (those statistics), but • Often they don’t know which temple or • What sect it belongs to

  7. Goals of Japanese Buddhism • Care for ancestors • A good life after death • This-worldly benefits • Health • Safety • Prosperity

  8. Japanese Conceptionsof the Netherworld • Reincarnation and the six realms • Gods • Humans • Asuras • Animals/beasts • Hungry ghosts • Hell dwellers • Post-death rituals aimed at ensuring the departed moves on

  9. Rise of Japanese Buddhism • Entered Japan ca. 1st-3rd centuries CE from the Asian mainland • Not a unified state, no writing system • As today, Buddhism well mixed with • Daoism • Yin-yang belief • Geomancy (directional taboos) • Confucianism

  10. “Formal Introduction” of Japanese Buddhism • Mid 500s, letter from a Korean king to a Japanese emperor • The emperor embraced it but his courtiers resisted it • They feared their prestige would be reduced

  11. First Buddhist institutions • ca. 600-1000 CE • Mainly monasteries • Patronized by aristocrats • Served official functions • Most important: state protection • Common people little served by these official institutions

  12. Medieval Buddhism • True or false:Zen is the most popular kind of Buddhism in Japan • False. Zen comes in at number two • Most popular: Pure Land • Begins to develop about the year 1000 • Focuses on Amida and posthumous birth into his Pure Land (Pure Land = heaven)

  13. Medieval Buddhism II • Zen comes to Japan from China about the year 1200 • Embraced by the warriors who ruled Japan at the time • However, many warriors held on to older family beliefs and did not embrace Zen • Older schools also thrive, supported by landholdings donated over the years

  14. Buddhism in Modern Japan • Buddhist temples separated from shrines (to kami, Japanese deities) • Buddhism suppressed for a time in the interest of national identity • Stripped of their landholdings • Temple destruction in some areas • Ultimately a failure

  15. New Religions • Two types: • Those begun by charismatic leaders claiming special visions and insights • Tenri-kyō, Agon-shū • Popular lay movements that grew out of older Buddhist institutions • Risshō Kōsei-kai, Soka Gakkai

  16. Agon-shū • Leader: Kiriyama Seiyū

  17. Agon-shū • Hoshi matsuri — goma ritual

  18. Conclusion • In Japan, the distant goal of awakening (enlightenment) was and is relatively not important • Buddhism in its Japanese form seeks • This-worldly benefits • Salvation in the next life • Visits to temple mostly occasional: a death in the family, festival, pilgrimage, in times of need

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