Buddhism forced to turn New Age trendy to attract a new generation in Japan
Pastor Dale Morgan
Buddhism forced to turn New Age trendy to attract a new generation in Japan*
Priests visit bars to reach out to young sceptics amid dramatic decline
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Thursday January 10, 2008
Buddhist monks take to the catwalk at the Tsukiji Honganji temple in
Tokyo last month. The event opened with the recital of a new age prayer
set to a hip-hop beat
Dressed in dark cotton robes, a bracelet of prayer beads hanging from
his wrist, Gugan Taguchi certainly looks the part. But as he kneels to
chant a sutra before an altar in the corner of the room, the people
around him continue to chat, and his rhythmic prayers can only just be
heard above a Blue Note jazz track.
Minutes later Taguchi is back in his seat, glass in hand. A bottle of
rum sits on the bar in front of him, next to a half-filled ashtray as
his tobacco smoke mingles with the aroma of incense.
Some of his peers may disapprove of his methods, but amid a dramatic
decline in interest in Buddhism among young Japanese, Taguchi is
prepared to go almost anywhere to reach out to the sceptics, including
to the Bozu [monks] bar in Tokyo.
"I can understand why younger people aren't attracted to Buddhism," says
Taguchi, 46, a former salaryman from Hokkaido who turned to the
priesthood after his sight became impaired in his late 20s. "Most
priests are getting on, and I'm not sure young people want their advice.
I'm happy to come here and listen to people talk about anything they
like. It's up to them if they decide whether to heed my advice."
In the days ahead, millions of Japanese will visit Shinto shrines and
Buddhist temples to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rat. For many,
this will be the only contact they have with their spiritual roots for
the entire year.
More than 1,200 years after its arrival in Japan from mainland Asia,
Buddhism is in crisis. About 75% of Japan's 127 million people describe
themselves as Buddhists, but new year apart, many see the inside of a
temple only when a local head priest is asked to arrange a traditional
(and expensive) funeral for a dead relative.
As a result, public donations are drying up and many of the country's
75,000 temples are in financial trouble. Applications to Buddhist
universities have fallen so dramatically that several schools have
dropped the religious association from their titles.
Bozu's owner, Yoshinobu Fujioka, a Buddhist priest who can also mix a
decent cocktail for those in search of a quicker path to nirvana, says
that Japan's mainstream sects must shed their conservative image to
broaden their appeal. "There was a time when people would go to their
local temple for advice on all sorts of problems, not just spiritual
matters," said Fujioka, 31, who belongs to the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure
Land) sect. "This bar is just the same, a place where people can come
and talk freely about their problems."
Being served sake by a priest is just one of the novel ways in which
sceptical Japanese are being encouraged to get in touch with their
spiritual roots. Baijozan Komyoji temple in Tokyo has opened an outdoor
cafe in front of its main hall, and in Kyoto, Zendoji temple operates a
beauty salon. At Club Chippie, a jazz lounge in Tokyo, the saxophone
makes way for Sanskrit once a month as three shaven-headed monks wearing
robes chant sutras and encourage bemused customers to join in.
And recently, dozens of Buddhist monks and nuns took to the catwalk in
colourful silk robes as part of a public relations exercise at Tsukiji
Honganji temple in Tokyo. The event, called Tokyo Bouz Collection,
opened with the recital of a Buddhist prayer to a hip-hop beat and ended
in a blur of confetti shaped like lotus petals.
"Many priests share the sense of crisis and the need to do something to
reach out to people," said Kosuke Kikkawa, a 37-year-old priest who
helped organise the event. "We won't change Buddha's teachings, but
perhaps we need to present things differently so that they touch the
feelings of people today."
Taguchi believes that the pressures of modern life mean Buddhism's
message is as relevant as it ever was. "These days there is constant
pressure to appear happy, and to keep fulfilling your desires to stay
that way," he said. "You could easily get the impression that people
don't need advice from priests, but that's not the case. Everyone
experiences times when they're not at their best, when things don't go
according to plan."
Explainer: How faith spread
Buddhism found its way to Japan via China and Korea in the sixth
century, according to early historical records.
In its earliest forms Japanese Buddhism was considered the preserve of
learned priests, who spent their days praying for the health of the
imperial household from their lairs in the great temples of the ancient
capital of Nara.
The forerunner of the Jodo Shinshu - True Pure Land - sect was founded
in 1175 and promoted the idea of gaining salvation through belief in the
Buddha Amida. Jodo Shinshu continues to have millions of followers today.
Zen Buddhism, which reached Japan at about the same time, proved popular
among members of the military elite, who were attracted by its message
of enlightenment through meditation and discipline. Another influential
sect, Nichiren, revelled in opposing other Buddhist schools and remains
popular, providing the basis for many of Japan's "new religions".
They include Soka Gakkai, which was founded in 1930 and whose members
went on to form the political party Komeito, now the junior partner in
Japan's ruling coalition.
Japan's Buddhists have survived several political struggles, notably
with the Meiji government of the late 19th century, which promoted
Shinto as the new state religion.
About 90 million Japanese say they are Buddhist, compared with only
about 1% of the country's 127m-strong population, who consider
themselves Christian.