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

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 Conceptions of 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. 1 st -3 rd 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