Buddhism Comes to Japan Part 3 By Arjanyai At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

3. Nichiren is a form of popular Buddhism. Its founder, Nichiren, was a monk of militant and nationalistic spirit. He taught that one should have absolute faith in the eternal Sakyamuni Buddha, that the only true doctrine was the teaching of the Saddharmapunฺdฺarika sutra, and that peace and happiness both of the individuals and of the nation could be achieved only by the practice of this true teaching. Its followers are taught to keep devotion to the Sutra and to turn the teaching into practice by repeating the words: Namu Myo Horengekyo - Homage to the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. Nichiren attacked all other sects by declaring their doctrines and practices to be false and dangerous to the welfare of the country. He and his sect came into violent conflict with them and suffered serious troubles through persecution. In spite of this, the sect continued to grow. Its founder and followers even believed that its teaching would be accepted all over the world.

With the rise of these new sects, Buddhism was completely accepted by the Japanese people. If the Heian period marked the nationalization of Buddhism in Japan, it was during the Kamakura period that the popularization of Buddhism was achieved. Then Buddhist temples were erected in most of the small towns and villages. Though many subsects have appeared within the old sects, especially after World War II, no new major Buddhist sect has been founded in Japan since that time.

After the Kamakura period, the seat of shogunate was moved to Kyoto. In spite of civil wars and natural disasters, cultural leadership was maintained by Buddhist monks, especially those of Zen, and the
arts flourished as never before. The influence of Zen found its expression in the development of the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, No drama, garden making, painting and other works of art, and also of Judo, Kendo and Bushido, which is the ethical code of the samurai.

The Suppression of Buddhism
Constant internal wars and disorder during the period of about one hundred years beginning with the rebellion of B.E. 2010 (1467 C.E.) brought to an end most of the great families of the former periods and brought about the rise of some new powerful families and great social changes. Priests and monks were engaged in warfare and battle either to protect themselves or to gain power. There were also many conflicts between religious groups such as the followers of Nichiren, those of Shinran and the monk soldiers of Tendai. They even took sides with some feudal lords against the other. Therefore, when Portuguese Christian missionaries came to Japan in about B.E. 2100 (1557 C.E.), Nobunaga, then the most powerful man in Japan, encouraged their activities. Nobunaga even attacked the monastic armies on Mount Hiei, burned about 3,000 monasteries and killed all of their inhabitants. Though he could not defeat the abbot Kennyo of Osaka and both parties had to accept an agreement, the political and military power of the monasteries declined and never recovered. The influence of Japanese Buddhism has never reached a high degree of strength since then.

The government support to Christianity, however, did not last long, for the quarrels between the Portuguese and the Spanish priests and between the Spanish and the Dutch priests which broke out between B.E. 2136 and 2154 made the ruler conscious of the danger of Christian priests as a political machine. This led to the persecution of the Christians and, finally, to the adoption of the exclusion policy in B.E. 2167 (1624 C.E.). In order to put an end to the influence of Christianity and to use the influence of Buddhism for its own benefit, the government turned to Buddhism, brought the Buddhist institutions under strict state control, and made them useful in maintaining its power. Moreover, Confucianism was greatly encouraged. Thus, Buddhist institutions weakened and their intellectual activities declined. While the people turned to worldly pleasures and sought material wealth, the temples encouraged these through the rites and beliefs which satisfied worldly ends, and the monks and priests themselves adopted lives of indolence and negligence. Thus, throughout the Tokugawa or Edo period (B.E. 2146 - 2410/ 1603- 1867 C.E.), during which the capital was established at Edo or Tokyo, there was no significant development in Japanese Buddhism and it was during : his period that there arose a movement to make Shinto the national eligion of Japan.

The modernization of Japan started with the beginning of the Meiji period in B.E. 2411 (1868 C.E.) when the power and administration was restored from the shogun to the emperor, the policy of national seclusion came to an end, and Western culture was freely imported and imitated. Then, to affirm the supreme power of the emperor by his divinity and to strengthen nationalism, Shinto was separated from Buddhism and established as the national religion. Buddhist beliefs and worship were forbidden in the Imperial Household. There was even a movement called Haibutsu Kishaku to eradicate Buddhism in Japan. It was a time of crisis for Buddhism, though it was able to some degree to recover its strength and the government had to soften its anti-Buddhist policy.

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