[Buddha-l] updates and corrections to "upaya express" (topic: Buddhism in contemporary Japan)

[John K Nelson]

Dear Buddha-l subscribers,

A few updates and corrections are necessary concerning contemporary  
Buddhism in Japan, the subject of a post by D. Lusthaus on 1.24.10.

1. " Zen has always been a minority tradition in Japan -- though we  
in the west often
treat it metonymically as "Japanese Buddhism." Largest Japanese sect  
is Pure
Land (Jodo)."

According to figures released by the (Japanese) Agency for Cultural  
Affairs in 1999, there are 20,968 temples belonging to various Zen  
denominations, making it the second largest of all Buddhist  
organizations in Japan.  Pure Land temples number around 29,628.

A good summary of this information (though now five years old but in  
English and still fairly accurate) can be found in Steve Covell's  
excellent book, Japanese Temple Buddhism (Hawaii, 2006), p. 5.

2. "Shingon, Tendai, Nichiren all have far more adherents (though
"membership" can often be merely a nominal family association that  
one is
unaware of until a familiy member dies and one has to figure out which
Buddhist group the familiy traditionally belongs to, in order to  
arrange the
funeral)."

and elsewhere...

"Japanese who come to the West typically convert, since they usually  
have
little to no commitment to their family's traditional denominational
affiliation (if they even know what it is)."

This may be the case in a number of extreme examples, but most  
families have an idea about their affiliation with a temple and the  
kind of Buddhism it represents.  They may not be able to tell you a  
single point of history or doctrine, but that hardly matters when the  
issue at hand concerns memorial services for departed loved ones.   
Also, I would not categorize all Japanese who come to the west as  
having some special inclination to convert to Christianity simply  
because they have little commitment to their family's Buddhist heritage.

3. "Nichiren and Soka gakkai (before the latter splintered off from  
the former)
were considerable, with a political party that accounted for a major  
chunk
of the Japanese parliament."

This party is named "Komeito" and, though a major political player  
because it helped to build and maintain a coalition that was defeated  
only last year, did not constitute a "major chunk" of the parliament.
Its elected members are roughly 22 in each of Japan's two levels of  
government, with the Upper House having 242 and the Lower House 480  
representatives.

4. "One of the recent Jodo Shinshu responses to the "crisis" of  
Japanese Buddhism..."

There is little doubt about the veracity of this crisis.  The near  
future will keep most temples financially solvent as they conduct  
funerals for Japan's aging population, of whom around 7,000,000 will  
pass away in the next ten to twenty years.  After this wave of  
funerals, however, many temples will no longer have the parishioners  
and key contributors they need to remain economically viable.  Unless  
something changes drastically among the younger generation that calls  
them back to temples and helps them understand Buddhism as relevant  
to their lives (see response #7, below), there will be widespread  
closures of temples nationwide.  A scholar from Hokkaido University,  
Prof. Sakurai Yoshihide, who is studying this situation (and who  
presented at the AAR in Montréal) predicts at least 30% of all  
temples will close.

5. (continued from #4) "...is to invent even more elaborate pre-death  
funerary rituals (borrowing in odd and creative ways from the Western  
Death-and-dying movements), all with a price tag, all with pastoral
counseling in mind."

Interviews I conducted with leaders at the Pure Land headquarters in  
Kyoto in the spring of 2009 indicate the denomination is keenly aware  
they cannot rely on funerals for the survival of community temples.   
They will attempt to use the upcoming 800 year anniversary of the  
denomination to promote a kind of "symbiosis" (tomoiki) between  
temples and communities, and establish a website that helps temples  
and NGO/NPO organizations compare mission and purpose, as well as  
strengths and weaknesses, in order to collaborate.  Compared to  
similar interviews conducted with top leaders at Tendai and Soto-Zen  
headquarters, the Pure Land folks are far more proactive and  
realistic about the future of their tradition.

6. "When I suggested a few years ago to some of the leaders
that if they wanted to do something for Japanese culture, instead of  
these
gentrified rituals, they tackle the problem of suicide (which has been
astronomical in Japan, and has taken on multiple social forms), they  
just
stared at me speechless. Not in their vocabulary. (and not lucrative?)"

While it's true that suicide prevention does not generate income for  
temples, it remains among the leading issues within most  
denominations.  Both Pure Land and True Pure Land denominations have  
been very active in supporting hot lines and calling attention to the  
issue in publications and at conferences, and the same can be said  
for Soto Zen and Nichiren, although I'm not sure about the others.   
As in most matters related to policy and its impact on social issues,  
it's really up to the individual priests to take the initiative and  
make a difference in local communities.  When the will is lacking,  
nothing happens except maintaining the status quo.  But when a local  
priest commits to a particular cause, we see ample evidence that they  
can make a huge difference.  (See J. Watts' interesting piece on  
several committed priests at http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/admin/ 
pubFiles/GNH3/10.3rdGNH.pdf)

7.  "As Franz noted, Japanese are not converting to Christianity  
outright in any
significant numbers, but Christian influence has been infiltrating  
Japanese
culture in many ways. The Japanese seriously underestimate the long  
range
impact. Just as in the west "Buddhism" carries an air of the exotic, the
different, the fresh air that revitalizes stale spirituality, in Japan
Buddhism is the old fashioned, old time, obsolete, superstitious,  
familiar,
worn out, untrustworthy tradition, and Christianity is exotic, new,
associated with the West and prosperity. Japanese marry in churches, in
tuxedos and western-style wedding gowns in elaborately overly expensive
affairs, western style."

I think it would be wise to set aside these easy generalizations and  
dualities and replace them with more complex, nuanced, and accurate  
information.  To be brief, "the Christian influence" should be  
rendered in the plural since there is no monolithic Christianity in  
Japan.  Most Japanese who have attended high school are aware of the  
impact Christianity had in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the  
draconian efforts of the government to curtail its growth.  Today,  
many Japanese marry in chapels run by companies that facilitate (for  
a fee) funerals and weddings, but these same couples will also have a  
brief "Shinto" style ceremony preceding the chapel event.   Some also  
marry in traditional churches.

Not everyone in Japan thinks that Buddhism fits the description  
offered above.  Most major Japanese newspapers have, in recent years,  
featured articles about monks chanting in jazz clubs, about open  
terraces at urban temples where workers can come and go freely, about  
suicide prevention efforts of priests and local NPOs, attempts to aid  
victims of domestic violence, shelters for the homeless and runaway  
or after-school teens, music concerts at temples (including rap,  
African drumming, jazz, classical Chinese, and so on), public forums  
that use the temple setting to feature writers, artists, musicians,  
politicians who have nothing to do with Buddhism...and so on.

In short, we should be cautious about blanket generalizations  
regarding religion and religious practice anywhere, but especially in  
highly complex societies like Japan where historical momentum  
dovetails with contemporary global dynamics in sometimes  
unpredictable ways.

John Nelson
University of San Francisco