HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN JAPAN | Facts and Details

EARLY HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN JAPAN

null
Shotoku Taishi Buddhism was introduced into Japan from Korea and China during the A.D. 6th century For the next 10 centuries it exerted a profound influence on its intellectual, artistic, social, and political life. Buddhism existed side by side with Confucianism and Shintoism, Japan's homegrown animist religion.

At first Buddhism was rejected by Shinto priests on the grounds that embraced foreign “kami” (spirits or deities), but later it was accepted by members of the Japanese court. Its acceptance rose and fell in the early years based on political factionalism and struggles and Buddhism’s perceived role in natural disasters and good and bad harvests. Buddhism spread quickly among the upper classes after the influential and pro-Buddhist Soga family crushed anti-Buddhist factions.

Buddhism was accepted by Japanese to break the power of a federation of noble clans. It has been said that the acceptance of Buddhism by rulers in the Far East was an attempt to create a more autocratic, absolutistic regime. This contrast with the Mahayana Buddhism ideal of a society without clear-cut classes under one enlightened ruler; in which believers together strive to attain the ultimate goal of salvation.

In the early centuries of Buddhism in Japan, scholarly esoteric sects were popular, and the Buddhist influence was limited mainly to the upper class. From the late Heian period (A.D. 794-1185) through the Kamakura period (1185-1333), Pure Land (Jodo) and Nichiren Shoshu sects, which had much wider appeal, spread throughout all classes of society. These sects stressed experience and faith, promising salvation in a future world. Zen Buddhism, which encourages the attainment of enlightenment through meditation and an austere life-style, had wide appeal among the bushi, or samurai--the warrior class--who had come to have great political power. [Source: Library of Congress, 1994]

Introduction of Buddhism to Japan

Buddhism is believed to have been first introduced to Japan in 538 A.D.”along with the Chinese language, Chinese ideographs and Buddhist styles of painting, sculpture and architecture — via Korea when a Korean ruler (a king of Paekche) attempting to form an alliance with the Yamato clan sent a Buddha statue and some Buddhist sutras (texts) as a gift. Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism was the school of Buddhism that was introduced. The influential Soga clan adopted a Buddha as its clan deity in the sixth century.

Buddhism originated in India and Nepal. It introduced ideas into Japanese culture that have become inseparable from the Japanese worldview: the concept of rebirth, ideas of karmic causation, and an emphasis on the unity of experience. It gained the patronage of the ruling class, which supported the building of temples and production of Buddhist art. [Source: Library of Congress, 1994 *]

Records state that the Korean monarch, fearful of belligerent neighbors, appealed to the Japanese for military assistance, accompanying his plea with the Buddha statue and sutras. Thomas Hoover wrote in “Zen Culture”: Since the Japanese had for many centuries reserved their primary allegiance for their sun-goddess, whose direct descendant the emperor was thought to be, they were wary of new faiths that might jeopardize the authority of the native deities. After much high-level deliberation it was decided to give the Buddha a trial period to test his magical powers, but unfortunately no sooner had the new image been set up than a pestilence, apparently smallpox, swept the land. The new Buddha was swiftly consigned to a drainage canal by imperial decree. [Source: Thomas Hoover, “Zen Culture”, 1977]

Prince Shotoku and the Legitimization of Buddhism in Japan

During the earliest period, the court and aristocratic families understood Buddhism as a variant of their native religion, and used it primarily as a way to cure illnesses and gain supernatural protection for the nation. Prince Shotoku (572–621) is credited with being among the first to see Buddhist teachings as distinct from the native cults and to have understood Buddhism to some degree on its own terms. He is thought to have composed commentaries to several scriptures, and he fostered a program of rapid temple construction. [Source: A. S. Rosso,; Jones, C. B. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com]

In the 670s, a new emperor came to the throne, and he was persuaded to give the Buddha another try by a political faction which thought a new religion might undermine the theological position of the established nobility. By odd coincidence, no sooner had a new Buddha been imported than another plague broke out. The new Buddha statue and all accompanying trappings were disposed of, but the plague only worsened, allowing the pro-Buddhist faction to turn the tragedy to their advantage by blaming those who had desecrated the statue. After more political maneuvering, this faction took the somewhat unprecedented step of assassinating the hesitant emperor in order to ensure a place for Buddhism in Japanese life. Finally the faith did catch hold, and, by the beginning of the seventh century, temples and pagodas were being built.

Monks and the Introduction of Chinese Buddhism to Japan

The famous Tang Dynasty Chinese monk Jianzhen, who is known as Ganjin in Japan, is credited with introducing Chinese-style Buddhism to Japan in the 7th century. His first five efforts to reach Japan were thwarted by shipwrecks, storms and government red tape. He finally made on his sixth attempt after he was blinded by an eye disease. Jianzhen had some success spreading Buddhism in Japan and sent 19 groups of Japanese students to China. They in turn brought back knowledge of Chinese culture, medicine and other things.

By the eighth century Buddhism was adopted as the state religion, but practitioners still turned to China as the source of authority. From the ninth century Buddhism spread throughout the population in Japan and gradually took on a distinctive Japanese form associated particularly with the Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen sects. [Source: Margaret Lock, “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East / Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993]

Thomas Hoover wrote in “Zen Culture”: “As interest grew in both the doctrines of the Buddha and the political innovations of the new T’ang dynasty, which had come to power in China in 618, the Japanese aristocracy began to copy Chinese civilization, gradually abandoning much of their indigenous culture. Although new Japanese monks were soon writing and reciting Chinese sutras, Buddhist ideas, now twice removed from their Indian origins, were grasped imperfectly if at all by most Japanese. Indeed, few of the early aristocracy who professed Buddhism viewed it as anything other than a powerful new form of magic — a supplement to the native gods, or kami, who presided over harvests and health. Given the difficulty Japanese scholars had in understanding Chinese texts, it is easy to sympathize with later Zen monks who claimed the sutraswere mainly a barrier to enlightenment. [Source: Thomas Hoover, “Zen Culture”, 1977]

Buddhism in the Nara Period of Japan

In the Nara Period (A.D. 710-794), the court supported the spread of Buddhism and sought to combine secular government with the greatness of institutional Buddhism. Thus, the emperor, who claimed descent from the Shinto goddess, also supported the spread of Buddhism. This was possible because these religions were not seen as mutually exclusive. Shinto deities were explained as local manifestations in Japan of the universal beings represented by the many Buddhas. [Source: F. A. Moyer and M. C. Moyer; revised by D. Str”Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life,” Cengage Learning, 2009]

Shotoku Taishi (born in 574, ruled 593-622) is regarded as the "father of Japanese Buddhism." He made Buddhism the state religion by constructing major Buddhist temples such as Horyu-ji near Nara. His was goal was to create a harmonious society. Under Shotoku Buddhism became the state religion, scriptures, art and craftsmen were brought in from Korea and Japanese monks were sent abroad to study. Temples were founded, monks were ordained and ceremonies were held publicly.

Buddhism was promoted in the Nara Period, especially by Emperor Shomu, who ordered the construction of Todaiji Temple and Daibutsi (Great Buddha) in Nara, and issued a decree for the construction of state Buddhist temples in each province. Emperor Shomu was deeply religious. He believed that he could overcome the epidemics and unrest that occurred during his reign with the power of The Buddha. However, the coexistence of Buddhism and Shinto continued. Responsible for carrying out rituals to promote national welfare, the six Nara sects which dominated Buddhism at this time were primarily academic in nature and had little influence on the general population.

Buddhism in Heian Period Japan

In the Heian period (794 - 1185) Buddhist culture was primarily the property of the court and the aristocracy — a very small minority in Japan. Between 1150 and 1300 new sects and doctrines arose that were founded by reformers. They used simple ideas and lively language that appealed to ordinary farmers, fishermen and soldiers.

Mt. Hiei (on a ridge between northern Kyoto and Lake Biwa) is one of holiest mountains in Japan and is regarded as the mother mountain of Japanese Buddhism Enryaku-ji Temple sits on top of Mt. Hiei. Founded in 788 by Saicho, the priest who founded the Tendai school of Buddhism, it was established to protect Kyoto from demons traveling from the northeast and was the center of Buddhism in Japan for 800 years.

The esoteric Tendai and Shingon schools of Buddhism were the most influential during this period. They emphasized meditative practices using mandalas (elaborate pictorial representations of the Buddhist cosmos, the many heavens, and their inhabitants) and mantras (magically powerful words or phrases). [Source: Gary Ebersole, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, Thomson Gale, 2006]

Buddhism in Medieval Japan

null
Japanese monks who studied at Chinese monasteries and returned home in the Southern Song period from the mid 12th to mid 13th centuries had a profound impact on Japan. The Mongol invasions of China in the 13th and 14th centuries caused many Chinese monks to immigrate to Japan.

The main Japanese Buddhist sects — Shingon, Tendai, Pure Land Nichiren, and Zen —sprung up during the Heian Period (794-1185) and Kamakura Period (1192-1338). The first homegrown Buddhist sects to take hold in Japan were the Tendai and Shingon schools. The Tendai sect was introduced into Japan by the priest Saicho (767 — 822) and the Shingon sect was introduced by Kukai (774 — 835), who is also known as Kobo Daishi. These two esoteric sects came to be the most important Buddhist sects at the imperial court. Buddhism spread and was embraced by a wide range of people during Kamakura Period (1192-1333), when Japan experienced a great deal of political unrest and social chaos.

After Japan had abandoned its policy of seclusion, foreign missionaries returned in major developments occurred in Japanese Buddhism. First, the Zen school was established in Japan by Eisai (1141 — 1215), founder of the Rinzai sect, and later modified by Dogen (1200 — 1253), founder of the Soto sect. Zen found a receptive audience in the warrior elite of the time because of its directness and its emphasis on self-discipline and meditation. Zen practice utilizes sitting meditation, called “zazen”, and irrational riddles, called “koan”, as means to reach enlightenment (“satori”). The primary difference between the two sects is that Rinzai Zen places much more importance on “koan “practice than Soto Zen.

Buddhism introduced a style of art to Japan that dominated aesthetic life there until the 17th century and emphasized grace, ease, color, gaiety and harmony that conveyed human interest and narrative and shunned the grotesque and discordant Under the sponsorship of the ruling military class, Zen had a major impact on Japanese aesthetics. In addition, as Japan scholar Robert N. Bellah has argued, Buddhist sects popular among commoners in the Tokugawa period encouraged values such as hard work and delayed rewards, which, like Protestantism in Europe, helped lay the ideological foundation for Japan's industrial success. [Source: Library of Congress, 1994]

Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism

Buddhism has coexisted in Japan along with Shintoism for at least 1,400 years. Throughout most of Japan's history, Buddhism was a faith linked with the upper classes while a mixture of Shinto, animist and Buddhist beliefs were observed by ordinary Japanese. Buddhism is credited with making purity in Shinto an internal issue as well as an external one.

The term Shinto was first used around the time that Buddhism was introduced in part to distinguish the indigenous religions of Japan from the imports from the Asian mainland. The way (to) in Japanese is the same as Tao in Taoism. It was fortunate that the brand of Buddhism that entered Japan was the Mahayana form, which tended to be tolerant and willing to accept new ideas and form bonds with other belief schemes.

Confucianism arrived in Japan around the same time as Buddhism during the first great wave of Chinese influence into Japan between the 6th and 9th centuries. Confucianism was overshadowed by Buddhism, but it survived as a philosophy into the late 19th century and remains influential on Japanese thought and values. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale, 2008]

Temples for the Buddhist Tendai sect had so many Shinto elements they were described as “religious junkyards.” The Tendai believed that Buddhist deities were aspects of The Buddha, thus it followed that Shinto kami could be incorporated as aspects of The Buddha as well. The Shingon sect of Buddhism also incorporated Shinto elements.

In the Heian Period, ascetic Japanese holy men, known as “hijiri”, were thought of as Buddhists even though they wandered in the mountains in an attempt to attain superhuman powers and "ecstatic inspiration" and worked at Shinto shrines as shaman. Beginning in the 15th century there was a concerted effort to rid Shintoism of Buddhist and other foreign elements that gained momentum when Shintoism was transformed into a nationalist ideology in the 19th century.

How Buddhism and Shintoism Existed Side by Side

Within Japanese Buddhism, Shinto was explained as a sort of local manifestation of universal truths and kami were integrated as local versions of Buddhist deities. Shintoism accommodated Buddhism by making Buddha a kami that originated from China and making kamis susceptible to the same cycles or death and rebirth that Buddhist believe occur to people. Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines were often built near one another. Buddhist sutras were recited to kami and kami were later regarded as incarnations of Bodhisattvas.

Shinto dealt with worldly matters (crops, social relations, clan ancestry), Buddhism focused on ethical and metaphysical issues. This division still works exist in Japan today. Weddings are often Shinto ceremonies while Japanese turn to Buddhism for funerals and issues related to morality and existence and future of the human soul. [Source: F. A. Moyer and M. C. Moyer; revised by D. Str”Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life,” Cengage Learning, 2009 *]

Ryobu, or Dual Shinto, is movement based on mutual respect between Buddhism and Shintoism. Originating in the 8th century, it borrowed ideas and doctrines from both religions and manifested itself through Buddhist relics placed in Shinto shrines; statues of Shinto deities erected in Buddhist temples; and the Emperor expressing his loyalty to Three Treasures of the Sun Goddess and promising to revere the teachings of The Buddha.

Buddhist Militarism and Power in Japan

null
guardian deity in Nara There was a militant side to Japanese Buddhism. Many monasteries were fortified and had standing armies. These measures began as protective measures against brigands and marauding armies but over time led to the sects becoming like feudal states, sometimes with large armies controlling entire provinces.

Until the 12th century, Buddhism was closely associated with the aristocracy’s strategy of centralizing political control. Temples such as Kofukuji in Nara, Enryakuji in Kyoto and Koyasan south of Nara held a great deal of power. Religious leaders, court nobles and military leaders competed with one another and formed alliances. Temples earned money from taxes and donations, intended to support monks and maintain buildings.

Many Buddhist monks were involved in business. Many sake brewers were low level Buddhist priests. They were often the most cash rich people around because they received a reliable source of income from their products. They often served as moneylenders, charging interest of between 60 percent and 300 percent a year. The lords were indebted to sake priests for their ability to generate taxable income.

Another important development was the rapid growth of popular Buddhist sects among the common people. These included the Pure Land sects, which taught that the chanting of Buddha Amida’s name is the best way to achieve rebirth in Amida’s Western Paradise, and also the Nichiren sect, which emphasized the chanting of the title of the Lotus Sutra.

Book: “The Gates of Power: Monks, Courtiers and Warriors in Premodern Japan” by Mikael S. Adolphson (Hawaii University Press, 2001)

Buddhist Warrior Monks in Japan

Japan has a long history of "Buddhist violence". Feuds among Buddhists and between Buddhist sects was not uncommon. Sohei or "warrior monks" appeared during the Heian period. The seeming contradiction between being a Buddhist and "warrior monk" caused controversy even at the time. The Ikko-shu movement of the 15th and 16th century is one of the more obvious illustrations of the trend. In Osaka they defended their temple with the slogan "The mercy of Buddha should be recompensed even by pounding flesh to pieces. One's obligation to the Teacher should be recompensed even by smashing bones to bits!" [Source: Wikipedia]

Monks worked as soldiers and formed power networks with the imperial court and influential members of the nobility. It was not uncommon for violence to occur between monks and warriors over conflicts between temples and the Imperial court. The Buddhist monk Shunkan (1142-1179) is a tragic figure in Japanese history. As punishment for his failed plot against the ruling Heike clan, he was exiled to Iojima island, south of Kagoshima, Kyushu. He was left alone on the island after his conspirators were granted amnesty and is believed to have committed suicide. His story is the basis of a famous Noh play.

Buddhism During the Edo Period

In the 16th century, Buddhists were persecuted and many were killed for political reasons. During the Edo Period (1603-1868), the shogun attempted to reduce civil strife by assigning religious groups to a specific sphere and forbidding them to move outside it. The shogunate banned proselytizing and forced all people to register at Buddhist temples as part of an efforts to eliminate Christianity. This insured a large base of temple members, but it did not contribute to the vitality of Buddhism as a living religion. Interest in Buddhism declined during the stable but authoritarian rule of the shogunate.

By the end of the Kamakura Period, Buddhism had become a significant presence throughout Japanese society. In the 15th century, followers of Jodo Shinshu formed popular leagues known as ikko ikki. These leagues rebelled against local aristocratic rule in Kaga and, in 1488, successfully took control of the province. In 1571, the shogun Oda Nobunaga attacked and destroyed the headquarters of Tendai on Mt. Hiei, dispersing its sohei and suppressing many other Buddhist establishments. This was due to his distrust of the enormous landholdings and secular power of Buddhist monasteries. However, the widespread presence of Buddhist institutions could also be a source of strength for the government. After the ban on Christianity in 1612 and the subsequent expulsion of Christian missionaries, the government required all citizens to register with local Buddhist temples beginning in 1640. This effectively co-opted these institutions as a census bureau. [Source: A. S. Rosso,; Jones, C. B. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com]

Buddhist sectarian scholarship that developed during the Edo period continued into the 20th century and went a long way towards shaping and organizing the modern understanding of the religion in Japan. The scholarship sought to create a systematic account of the history and teachings of each school: to establish the orthodox doctrines (kyogi) of the school, to define the corpus of its scriptural canon, and to provide a history of its origins and transmission. [Source: Carl Bielefeldt, Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Gale Group Inc., 2004]

The current practice of having distinct denominations with branch temples serving local congregations of member households can be traced back to the Tokugawa government's administration of Buddhism through the honmatsu and terauke systems. The honmatsu system organized Buddhist institutions into a fixed set of sanctioned denominations, each governed from a headquarters responsible to the secular authorities. The term 'latter' refers to the practice of requiring households to register their members at a recognized local temple. These two systems were developed during the seventeenth century to regulate both Buddhist institutions and the religious options of the populace. They had the effect of establishing Buddhism as a branch of government administration and local temples as the registrars of the citizenry.

Buddhism During the Meiji Period

In the Meiji period (1868 — 1912) Shintoism was made the state religion and Buddhism was given a secondary role. The Edo period system collapsed in a wave of anti-Buddhist sentiment spurred by the government’s desire to eliminate Buddhist influence from Shinto shrines and make Shinto the state religion. In response to this and the changing social environment of the modern era, Buddhism has been striving to redefine its role in Japan.

After the government established state Shinto and withdrew its support for Buddhism. In 1872, government enforcement of Buddhist precepts for monks and nuns, including the prohibition of eating meat and marriage, ended. As a result, 90 percent of the Buddhist clergy are now married, and vegetarianism is not required of all priests. The government also turned a blind eye to the destruction of many Buddhist temples and artifacts by nationalist zealots in parts of Japan.[Source: Gary Ebersole, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, Thomson Gale, 2006]

Carl Bielefeldt wrote in the Encyclopedia of Buddhism: In the years immediately following the revolution that overthrew the Tokugawa administration, the new Meiji government sought to establish an officially sanctioned Shinto in support of imperial rule. It thus drew a sharp, and historically dubious, distinction between a native Shinto and the imported Buddhism, and sought institutionally to separate the two—a policy that had the practical effect of a brief but severe persecution of many Buddhist establishments. In the end, the government adopted a policy that at once separated church and state and reasserted state authority over the church: On the one hand, it revoked the old Tokugawa laws governing the clergy, decriminalizing violations of the Buddhist precepts and allowing the clerical marriage that has now become common; on the other hand, it carried forward the Tokugawa practice of legal recognition and regulation of Buddhist organizations, setting the precedent for the pattern of religious corporations that we see today. [Source: Carl Bielefeldt, Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Gale Group Inc., 2004]

“Such an arrangement assured Buddhism throughout the Edo period of both government support and popular patronage; and indeed, though the period is sometimes regarded as one of Buddhist decline, in many ways the religion flourished. Not only did many of the sanctioned denominations thrive as institutions, but the period also witnessed a marked growth in the popularity of Buddhist funeral rites and pilgrimage to Buddhist sacred sites that cut across sectarian divides. It also saw the persistence of unauthorized Buddhist communities and the rise of new religious fraternities outside the sanctioned ecclesiastical establishment. And it fostered within that establishment the development of Buddhist centers of sectarian learning (shūgaku) that generated scholarship on the history, texts, and doctrines of the various denominations.

Buddhism in Japan Today

Buddhism in Japan has adapted to the modern world by drawing on elements of Christianity and secular scholarship and abandoning some traditional Buddhist doctrines. Western scholarship methods have been applied to Buddhist studies; Western ideas have been debated; welfare services have been set up;; scholars and leaders have gone abroad to study and spread their message and learn from others; monks have been allowed to marry; lay organizations have been involved in temple activity; and Buddhist leaders have been are involved in politics.

Today, Buddhism is viewed by many Japanese mainly as a vehicle for dealing with the death of loved ones. Buddhist monks are often consulted only for funerals and ceremonies honoring the dead and temples and family alters are seen as way of praying for and honoring deceased relatives. Modern-day Japanese Buddhism is often called “funeral Buddhism.” Buddhist priests say the believe that interest in Buddhism will grow as the world people live in becomes more uncertain and more complex and that more lay people — rather than people following family members — will become priests. Japanese tend to visit Buddhist temples for special occasions or purposes rather than as part of routine. One visitor to a Buddhist temple in Tokyo told the Japan Times, “I visit the temple just to communicate with my mother. Even though I offer a prayer to Amida for help for my mother, I’ve never felt I engaged in the practice of Buddhism.”

Most of the money earned by temples comes from funerals and the care and honoring of the dead. Priests are typically paid about $2,000 dollars for their role in a two-day funeral service. They are also well paid for presiding over ceremonies honoring the dead. Temples earn monthly donations for caring for graves and displaying tablets with the spiritual names of the deceased. The money earned though is often not enough to pay up for the upkeep costs of the temple, salaries of the priests and monks and the fee to the administrative headquarters of the Buddhist sect.

Image Sources: 1) Nara Buddha, guardian deity, lotus, temple charms, Ray Kinnane 2) Shotaku images, Onmark productions, 3) golden Buddha, altar, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Crafts Industries in Japan 4) Kamakura Buddha, Visualizing Culture, MIT Education

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Daily Yomiuri, Times of London, Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated January 2024