Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity [3 ed.] 0534010288, 9780534010287

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Japanese

Religion UNITY AND DIVERSITY THIRD EDITION

IAN SERIES

NUNC COGNOSCO EX PARTE

TRENT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PURCHASED WITH FUNDS FROM:

THE REV. JOHN F. COUGHLAN LIBRARY FUND

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/japanesereligionOOOOearh

Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity Third Edition

IV

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H. Byron Earhart Western Michigan University

WADSWORTH PUBLISHING COMPANY Belmont, California A Division of Wadsworth, Inc.

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Religion Editor: Sheryl Fullerton Production Editor: Judith McKibben Managing Designer: Lois Stanfield Copy Editor: Pat Herbst

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Religion in the Japanese Experience: Sources and Interpretations (Wadsworth) The New Religions of Japan: A Bibliography of Western-Language Materials, 2d ed. (Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies) A Religious Study of the Mount Haguro Sect of Shugendo (Sophia University) Translation from the Japanese: Japanese Religion in the Modern Century, Shigeyoshi Murakami (University of Tokyo Press) The author is indebted to the following for permis¬ sion to reprint copyrighted material: Sir George B. Sansom and Stanford University Press, for use of material from A History of Japan; Masaharu Anesaki and Charles E. Tuttle Company, for use of material from History of Japanese Religion. © 1982 by Wadsworth, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a re¬ trieval system, or transcribed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, re¬ cording, or otherwise, without the prior written per¬ mission of the publisher, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California 94002, a division of Wadsworth, Inc. Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Earhart, H. Byron. Japanese religion, unity and diversity. (Religious life of man) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Japan—Religion. I. Title. II. Religious life of man (Belmont, Calif.) BL2202.E17 1982 291'.0952 81-12963 ISBN 0-534-01028-8 AACR2

ISBN

0-53M-01D5fl-fl

10—97 96 95

Series:

Contents

Foreword Preface to the Third Edition Map of japan

vii ix xiii

Table of Japanese Religious History, with Chronological Periods and Corresponding Cultural Features

1

2

Introduction

4

1

Five Religious Strands

1

Unity and Diversity

3

Persistent Themes in Japanese Religious History

7

The Closeness of Human Beings, Gods, and Nature

7

The Religious Character of the Family

9

The Significance of Purification, Rituals, and Charms

12

The Prominence of Local Festivals and Individual Cults

12

The Pervasiveness of Religion in Everyday Life

14

The Natural Bond Between Religion and the Nation

16

The Traditional World-View

16

Part One. The Formation of Japanese Religion

3

xiv

The Prehistoric Heritage

20

22

The Origins of Japanese Religion

22

The Evidence and Meaning of the Earliest Religion in Japan

24

The Religious Significance of Burial and the Dead

25

The Religious Significance of Fertility

26

The Religious Significance of Divine Descent

26

The Formation of Shinto

29

Mythological Materials and the Origins of Shinto

30

Organized Shinto: Priests and Rituals in Shrines

33

Distinctive Characteristics of Shinto

36

iv

5 Early Japanese Buddhism: Indian Influence with

Contents

Chinese Coloration

39

The Introduction of Buddhism as a Foreign Religion

40

Buddhism's Impact on the Court and the State

41

Buddhism as a State Religion

43

The Six Philosophical Schools of Nara Buddhism

45

The Sanron School

47

The Decline of Nara Buddhism

49

6 Confucianism and Religious Taoism: Chinese Importations

52

Confucianism: Explicit Chinese Influence on State and Society

53

Religious Taoism: Implicit Chinese Influence on Beliefs and Rituals 7

8

Folk Religion: Religiosity Outside Organized Religion Aspects of Japanese Folk Religion

60 62

The Individual and Folk Religion

65

Interaction in the Formation of Japanese Religion

68

The Interaction of Religious Traditions

68

The Formation of a Distinctive Japanese Religious Tradition

69

The Development and Elaboration of Japanese

Religion

74

The Founding of a Japanese Buddhism: The Shingon and Tendai Sects

10

60

Folk Religion in Family, Village, and Occupation

Part Two.

9

55

77

The New Buddhism of the Heian Period

77

Shingon: Esoteric Buddhism in Japan

78

Tendai: Faith in the Lotus Sutra and Amida

83

The Development of Japanese Buddhism and Japanese Religion

85

Elaboration Within Japanese Buddhism: The Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen Sects From Heian Buddhism to Kamakura Buddhism

90 91

The Pure Land Sects: Faith in Amida and the Recitation of the Nembutsu

92

Nichiren: Faith in theLofws Sutra as the Exclusive National Buddhism

95

The Zen Sects: Enlightenment Through Meditation

97

Dogen: Sitting in Meditation Zen: Institutional and Artistic Developments 11

The Development of Medieval Shinto

99 101 106

Medieval Buddhism and Medieval Shinto

107

Borrowing by Medieval Shinto

107

The Relation of Tendai and Shingon to Medieval Shinto

109

Medieval Shinto: Individual Scholars and Family Traditions 111 12

13

The Appearance of Christianity in Japan The Introduction of Christianity into Japan

116

The Japanese Acceptance of Christianity

116

The Expulsion of Christianity

119

The Significance of the Christian Century

121

The Five Traditions: Development and Mutual Influence

Part Three.

14

115

Formalism and Renewal in Japanese Religion

125

130

Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, and Restoration Shinto in the Tokugawa Period The Tokugawa Government and Religion

134 134

Tokugawa Buddhism: State Patronage and Weakened Vitality

136

Neo-Confucianism: Political Stability and Social Conformity

137

Neo-Confucianism: The Development of Public and Private Ethics

15

139

Restoration Shinto: The Movement for a Purified Shinto

143

Motoori Norinaga and Restoration Shinto

145

The Meiji Restoration and Nationalistic Shinto

150

The Political and Religious Significance of the Meiji Restoration

150

The Attempt to Restore Shinto as the Only Japanese Religion

16

152

The Establishment of Nonreligious Shrine Shinto

154

Shrine Shinto as an Expression of Nationalistic Militarism

155

Religious Currents from 1868 to 1945

161

Buddhism: The Struggle for Renewal, Especially Within Buddhist Scholarship

162

v Contents

vi Contents

Christianity: Strength and Weakness Since 1868

164

The New Religions: New Variations from Old Traditions

168

17 Two New Religions: Tenrikyo and Soka Gakkai

172

The Many New Religions: Differences and Similarities

173

Tenrikyo: A Living Kami and a Joyous Life

173

Soka Gakkai: Faith in the Lotus Sutra and a Happy Life

177

The Significance of the New Religions: Old Wine in New Bottles 18

19

20

Religion in Postwar Japan

180 184

Shinto: Disestablishment and Popular Disfavor

184

Buddhism: The Continuing Need for Renewal

186

Christianity: The Problems of Denominationalism

187

The Postwar Boom of New Religions

188

Religious Life in Contemporary Japan

192

Are the Japanese Religious?

192

Persistent Themes in Contemporary Japanese Religion

195

Approaches to Religious Change

198

Transformations of Religious Life in Contemporary Japan

200

Conclusion: The Challenge for Japanese Religion

209

Annotated Bibliography on Japanese Religion: Selected Works Study Questions

213 255

Index

266

Foreword

The Religious Life of Man series is intended as an introduction to a large, complex field of inquiry—religious experience. It seeks to pre¬ sent the depth and richness of religious concepts, forms of worship, spiritual practices, and social institutions found in the major reli¬ gious traditions throughout the world. As a specialist in the languages and cultures in which a religion is found, each author is able to illuminate the meanings of a religious perspective and practice as other human beings have experienced it. To communicate this meaning to readers who have had no special training in these cultures and religions, the authors have attempted to provide clear, nontechnical descriptions and interpretations of reli¬ gious life. Different approaches have been used, depending upon the nature of the religious data; some religious expressions, for instance, lend themselves to developmental, others to topical studies. The lack of a single interpretation may itself be instructive, for the experiences and practices regarded as religious in one culture may not be particularly important in another. The Religious Life of Man is concerned with, on the one hand, the variety of religious expressions found in different traditions and, on the other, similarities in the structures of religious life. The various forms are interpreted in terms of their cultural context and historical epntinuity, demonstrating both the diverse expressions and com¬ monalities of religious traditions. Besides individual volumes on dif-

viii

ferent religions, the series offers a core book on the study of religious

Foreword

meaning, which describes different study approaches and examines several modes and structures of religious awareness. In addition, each book presents a list of materials for further reading, including trans¬ lations of religious texts and detailed examinations of specific topics. During a decade of use the series has experienced a wide readership. A continuing effort has been made to update the scholarship, simplify the organization of material, and clarify concepts through the publication of revised editions. The authors have been gratified with the response to their efforts to introduce people to various forms of religious life. We hope readers will also find these volumes "intro¬ ductory” in the most significant sense: an introduction to a new per¬ spective for understanding themselves and others. Frederick J. Streng Series Editor

Preface to the Third Edition

I

welcome the opportunity

to bring out a third edition of this book.

Since the appearance of the second edition, continued study of Japa¬ nese religion (and study and travel in Korea, China, and Japan) have provided me with more information and the insight of other scholars for expanding and improving the previous edition. However, my intention remains unchanged—to present a general introduction to the history and dynamics of Japanese religion. This book is intended for readers interested in Japanese studies or religious studies. It is conceived and written as an introduction to Japanese religion and can be read as a first book in this area. No technical knowledge of Jap¬ anese history, Japanese religion, or the Japanese language is required for understanding the material.* I hope that this book will also be of use to advanced students and teachers who are acquainted with one area of Japanese history and culture and are looking for a comprehensive interpretation of religion in Japan. Whereas general readers may use the book as a steppingstone (through the "Selected Readings" and "Annotated Bibliog¬ raphy") to a deeper understanding of Japanese religion, advanced students and teachers may use it as a unified context in which they can integrate their specialized readings. The basic format of the previous editions has been preserved—an interpretation of persistent themes through three historical periods and the changing patterns of the various religious traditions (the framing of the third period has been changed somewhat, as indicated

X Preface to the Third Edition

by the new title of Part III, "Formalism and Renewal"). However, the third edition incorporates so many changes and additional materials that it is a completely rewritten work. Characterizations and general¬ izations have been amplified and clarified. Sections on important reli¬ gious figures and their contribution to Japanese intellectual history have been added. One new chapter has been written to give a closer look at "religious life in contemporary Japan." The suggestion men¬ tioned most frequently by professors who used the second edition was a request for more concrete information on the dynamics of reli¬ gious life in modern Japan, and it is in direct response to this request that the new chapter was written. Some friendly critics have pointed out to me privately that the book leaves unmentioned many areas of Japanese religious history—nota¬ bly the late medieval and early modern periods. Some new material in this area has been included, notably a section on Neo-Confucianism and a section on Motoori Norinaga. But let me be the first to acknowl¬ edge that so brief a work as this cannot pretend to be a complete his¬ tory of Japanese religion. I hope this admission will not prevent critics from registering their complaints with me again. Given the eventuality of a subsequent edition, such critical comments will help me to cor¬ rect the imperfections and incompleteness of the present edition. Favorable comments on the usefulness of the annotated bibliog¬ raphy in previous editions have encouraged me to expand the anno¬ tated bibliography, especially the section "Histories and Works on Japanese Culture." All sections have been updated, and some older items have been deleted. Another new feature of this edition is a set of study questions listed at the back of the book. These questions were developed in response to students' requests for me to "program" the text for them, helping them to grasp the significance of each chapter. The questions have a double purpose as a study guide to direct reading and as a kind of self-examiniation for checking the content actually gained from reading. (Students tell me that the questions also are helpful for review¬ ing-) The questions correlate the text of this book, Japanese Religion, with the companion sourcebook. Religion in the Japanese Experience. A general note suggesting how to use the questions precedes the list. From the time of planning the first edition, Frederick J. Streng, Series Editor, and I discussed the advantage of illustrations, and it is only because of space limitation that illustrations were omitted from the first two editions. Now we have the luxury of some space for photo¬ graphs, and a special word is needed to describe the photographs

chosen. They have been selected from my collection of photographs

xi

taken during field work in Japan over the past twenty years. Out of

Preface to the Third Edition

thousands of pictures, I have tried to pick those which express the dynamics of religious life: from the New Year's decoration on a Tokyo taxi to a shaman's seance with a client's dead relative. The kinds of illustrations usually found in books about Japanese religion have been omitted. The major temples and shrines, the monumental statues and portraits of famous priests—which make such lovely picture postcards—will not be found here. Such pictures, as important as they may be, are abundant in many Western-language books. But there are rather few illustrations of Japanese religion as actually prac¬ ticed, and it is photographs of religion being practiced that have been chosen for inclusion. Those wishing to view religion through art and architecture may consult works in the "Annotated Bibliography" (such as Paine and Soper's The Art and Architecture of Japan or art works listed in the sections for "Shinto" and "Buddhism"). All photographs were taken by the author, with place and date listed. Some photographs were taken expressly for this book, during my last extensive stay in Japan, from September 1979 through January 1980. The major purpose of that research trip was a joint study of the new religion Gedatsu-kai with Professor Hitoshi Miyake under a grant sponsored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Special thanks go to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for their research support; to Professor Hitoshi Miyake and Keio Uni¬ versity for facilitating this research; to Mr. Kojiro Miyasaka of Rissho Kosei-kai for housing; to Western Michigan University for a grant partially covering film costs; and to the leadership and members of Gedatsu-kai for their generous cooperation. In addition to those who helped in the writing of the earlier edi¬ tions, I would like to thank those who made suggestions on style and content for the third edition, especially Frederick J. Streng, editor of The Religious Life of Man

series, and Sheryl Fullerton, Religious

Studies Editor, and Jonathan Cobb of Wadsworth Publishing Com¬ pany. I also would like to thank the reviewers of this edition of Japa¬ nese Religion: Jeffrey Broughton of California State University, Long Beach, Walter Neevel, Jr. of University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Merlin L. Swartz of Boston University, and Richard Alan Williams of University of Texas at Austin. I would like to thank Mrs. Dolores Condic for typing assistance and my sons David and Paul for help in compiling the bibliography and preparing the manuscript.

xii

For the third time, it is a pleasure to dedicate this work to our

Preface to the Third Edition

Japanese friends and to the continued friendship and mutual cooper¬ ation of the United States and Japan.

NOTE All markings for long vowels have been omitted; no publications in Japanese are cited. Reference to Japanese names follows the Japanese convention of giving the family name first.

For more detailed maps showing the distribution and concentration of various reli¬ gions in Japan, see Joseph M. Kitagawa, ",Shinto" and “Mahayana Buddhism (Ja¬ pan),” in Historical Atlas of the Religions of the World, ed. Ismai'il Ragi al Faruqui and David E. Sopher (New York: Macmillan, 1974), pp. 127-32, 195-99.

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