Japan
is a land known for the majesty of Fuji, the endless bustle of Tokyo, and a vibrant
history whose cultural and artistic legacy has left a massive imprint on global pop culture.
This unique part of the world, ever sailing on its journey through history, once encountered a
sailing faith on a raft, coming from the lands of China and Korea. That faith was Buddhism,
which, after a long journey amongst steppes and mountains from India, had reached its
easternmost destination in Asia. Today, Buddhism is a core part of Japanese culture alongside the
indigenous faith of Shinto. How did Buddhism end up letting go of its sailing raft in Japan?
How did the Japanese people, both elites and commoners, accept it? What schools and sages
of Buddhism did Japan produce? And how did Buddhism interact with Shintoism? Welcome
to our video on the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, its spread and eventual cultural hegemony.
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Despite likely having earlier roots on the islands, Buddhism began truly taking root in
Japan during the Asuka Period. During this period, the Yamato dynasty controlled most of southern
Japan, and was becoming increasingly exposed to cultural influences from the rest of East Asia,
primarily from Korea’s Silla and Paekche Kingdoms, alongside Tang China. Immigrants and merchants
went back and forth between Japan and their own lands, bringing new forms of cultural development,
and possibly setting up their own clans. Korea’s kingdoms were prosperous during this period.
China, meanwhile, at the height of Tang dynastic power, was extremely wealthy. While initial links
to Buddhism came from Korea, China’s innumerable monasteries and schools were also becoming
increasingly intriguing to the Japanese. This prosperity enabled the spread of Chinese culture
and various faiths and philosophies, such as Confucianism, Daoism and Mahayana Buddhism,
to infiltrate Japan, as it had to other regions on China’s periphery as well, such as Korea and
Vietnam. It is important to note that Japan did not just copy Chinese culture verbatim, instead
adapting and reforming many of these borrowed traditions to better fit their local culture.
The earliest origins of Buddhism in Japan are hard to track. The scarcity of written records
from previous periods also makes things difficult. Japanese historiographical records themselves tend
to begin with the reign of Emperor Yomei, in 538 or 552 CE, depending on the records.
During this time, the chronicles of Japan, Nihon Shoki, claim that the king of Paekche, Seong,
commissioned a long list of diplomatic gifts to the court of Japan, including
scrolls of various sutras, some banners used for rituals, and a statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni.
These were sent to the Imperial capital at Asuka, where they were presented to the Emperor.
During this period, the son of Emperor Kinmei, Prince Shotoku,
held a high level of influence in the court. It is said that when he saw the statue of Buddha,
the Prince became excited, and demanded to know more about the faith. This royal
patronage skyrocketed Buddhism’s popularity in Japan, and caused significant social turmoil.
Some clans like the Mononobe and Nakatomi, were more conservative, and rallied against the new
faith. Other clans, like the Soga and Hata, actively preferred the new Buddhist rites.
Religion in Japan was intrinsically linked to the weather and to the good health of communities,
so whenever pestilence plagued the land, conservative clans blamed the Buddhists.
They also feared the local kami, the innumerous supernatural beings which inhabit the land in
Japan’s indigenous Shinto faith, who would be most offended at the arrival of the immigrant
Buddha upon their land. Despite this pushback from some of Japan’s most powerful clans,
the support Buddhism enjoyed from the shrewd and politically astute Prince Shotoku won out,
and the faith continued spreading through the land. Shotoku sent envoys and students to China,
who studied there, and brought the beginnings of many schools of Buddhism back to Japan.
This would be the foundation of monastic and scholarly communities in Japan,
which later would become intrinsically tied to the royal court and the aristocracy.
The first Buddhist monks and nuns in Japan were also ordained during this period, and those
lineages would later go on to produce some of the most important Buddhist schools of the country.
The presence of women in Japanese Buddhism was also consistent from the beginning, with three
Buddhist nuns named Zenshin-ni, Zenso-Zi and Kensen-ni, having been recorded to have gone
to Korea to do the proper ordination rites. After the death of Prince Shotoku, Japanese
Buddhism’s first major patron, Emperor Kotoku initiated the Taika Reforms, ushering in a new
age for the faith. The Taika Reforms represent a time of increasing Chinese influence on Japan,
as the Yamato court undertook heavy efforts to centralise their domain by following the Tang
Dynasty model of rulership, resulting in the promotion of Chinese social philosophies like
Confucianism to gain ground in Japan. This new, more centralised state moved its capital to Nara,
a city built in the grid image of Chang’an of the Tang Dynasty. These new land and education
regimes would affect the development of Buddhism in this period, which continued to prosper,
especially when the Hakuho imperial family began sponsoring Buddhism officially.
During the Nara period, Buddhism flourished under the increasingly intense sponsorship of
the land’s nobles and Emperors, who directly involved themselves in the establishment of
a local Japanese Buddhist tradition, and are thus some of the main reasons for the unique
nature of Japanese Buddhism. Nara, the titular capital during this age, became the centre of
six schools of Buddhist thought, which were all different from each other. These schools were:
1. Ritsu 2. Jōjitsu
3. Kusha-shū 4. Sanronshū
5. Hossō 6. Kegon
As a result of the Nara government’s direct involvement in Japanese Buddhism’s development,
all the great Buddhist temples of this time came under state control via a system known
as the Kokunbuji. Buddhist monks did exist outside this system, but were subject to state sanction.
During this time, Seven Great Temples of the Southern Capital in Nara were the political,
spiritual and philosophical heart of Japan, and where different prestigious Buddhist sects and
lineages came to clash, these Temples were: 1. Daian-ji
2. Gangō-ji 3. Hōryū-ji
4. Kōfuku-ji 5. Saidai-ji
6. Tōdai-ji 7. Yakushi-ji
Each of these temples also controlled monasteries where armies of sages, scholars and monks worked,
taught, meditated and translated tirelessly. The temples also produced many translations
of important Buddhist sutras which defined the intellectual life of Japan, such as the
Lotus Sutra, in which the nature of a Bodhisattva and the skilful means to achieve Buddhahood are
discussed, and the Golden Light Sutra, in which we see a discussion of the patronage of just
rulers by the Four Heavenly Kings in the Mahayana tradition. The former was the founding scripture
of Japan’s Tendai and Zen schools, while the latter helped legitimise imperial rule, displaying
just how much Buddhist rituals had become part of Japanese courtly life, and become an integral
vehicle through which the Japanese highborn could conduct their daily political affairs.
Nara is thus the period where Buddhism truly becomes Japanese, and where it becomes part of
Japanese politics via both monks and rites. Following the Nara Period, the Heian Period
is considered the cultural pinnacle of Classical Japan. It was also the height of Chinese influence
in Japan, and the era when some of modern Japanese Buddhism’s most prominent schools were founded.
Emperor Konmu, who moved the capital to Kyoto, was particularly intrigued by the Buddhist school
of Tendai, founded by the monk Saicho, while another school, the Shingon, founded by Kukai,
gained momentous popularity among aristocrats and commoners alike. Saicho is traditionally
credited to be the first man to have brought tea to Japan. His Tendai school, alongside Kukai’s
Shingon school, are to this day the most popular schools in modern Japan. Moreover,
the Heian period was a period of women’s cultural production, excessively ritualised courtly
ceremonies enabled by Buddhist traditions, and the continued sponsorship of Buddhist monasteries.
Buddhism had by now fully penetrated the social milieu of Japan, providing economic and political
power to its participants. As a byproduct of this, other sects of the faith, like Zen and Pure Land
Buddhism became increasingly dominant, especially through the cult worship of Bodhisattvas like the
Amitabha Buddha. Pure Land Buddhism focuses on bodhisattvas who illuminate the universes
they reside in, and devotees aim to be reborn there by their side. The aesthetic culture of
the Heian found illustrious descriptions of such lands, such as Amitabha’s Sukhavati.
Generally, Buddhism in Japan highly emphasised magic and working with supernatural forces,
embedded itself in rituals for controlling the weather and helping with harvests.
These roles, also held by many Shinto cults, made Buddhism appealing to both commoners and elites.
Meanwhile, Buddhism’s other strategy of embedding itself in the local economy via
land grants and monastic landlordism allowed its most prominent temples, and particularly the ones
sponsored by the state and those belonging to either Tendai or Shingon, to become very rich.
This enabled them to produce marvellous gardens and architecture, such as the one in Takuji-ji.
It should be noted that there was also significant interplay between Buddhism
and Daoist and Confucian ideas during this time, as Heian Japanese elites were extremely
Sinophilic in their worldview and outlook. As it was during the Nara period, Buddhism
in Heian Japan was intrinsically linked to the state, and major offices of the state concerned
themselves with its management. In particular, the office of Soniyro was a governmental body that
regulated the lives and activities of Buddhist monks and nuns. Through these offices, we see
the development of a large political bureaucracy which was intertwined with the Buddhist clergy.
As a result, the Buddhist temples in Japan became some of the country’s most influential factions.
Some monasteries even began arming themselves, becoming powerful military factions known as the
Sōhei, who we have done a video on previously. All of this combined to make the Buddhist Clergy some
of the most potent political actors in Japan. Heian era Buddhism was also highly engaged
in philosophical and artistic production, particularly under the sponsorship of women.
Calligraphy was a particularly popular art associated with Buddhism, and was common under
the patronage of ketoji, female sponsors, who used it in the transmission of sutras throughout
temples in Japan. Classical Japanese poetry, like Waka, was often composed by Japanese Empresses,
and featured heavily Buddhist themes. Instead of the early Buddhist notion
that our sense of self is built from the causes and conditions of actions and circumstances,
Japanese Buddhism tended to centre around the idea of an innate Buddha nature, or a hidden
awakening within us waiting to be unleashed. Koya, the founder of the Shingon school, focused on the
study of Prajnaparamitas, or the Perfections of Wisdom. These sutras focus on how to cultivate
one’s wisdom and to overcome illusions, or Maya. Kucha, another Buddhist teacher, also considered
atomism in his philosophy. All these strands of thinking were due to direct contact with
Mahayana practices in China and Korea. As such, they are very close to the ideas of Madhyamaka,
a school of thought known as the Middle Way. Ojo-Ojishu, a major Buddhist text written by
Genshin, also was instrumental in spreading the ideas of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan.
When combined with previous emperors’ work in spreading Bodhisattvas, such as Shomu
spreading Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, these practices popularised and solidified Vajrayana
practices in Japan, where they remain to this day. Although Buddhism became extremely popular in the
land of the rising sun, it never replaced the land’s original faith of Shintoism,
and in fact, the two belief systems became deeply intertwined with one another over the centuries.
Shinto focuses around the presence of kami, or spirits which are linked to various spots in
nature, these include the traditional deities of Japan, such as Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and Susano.
Broadly speaking, Shintoism reflects a major theme of Japanese religion, which traditionally
put heavy focus on the relationship between human communities and nature. Buddhism, in contrast,
is a religion focused on inter-human relationships and ethics, so when it first arrived in Japan,
it had to adapt to the Japanese emphasis on the worship of the land itself.
As such, magic and mystical rituals, such as tea ceremonies, became a focus for Buddhism in Japan.
While initially, people were worried the local Kami spirits would be hostile to the
Buddhist faith, the two philosophies ended up converging. We will leave the topic of whether
Shinto was ever an organised religion aside, as it is still up to academic debate. What we
do know is that during its centuries-long stay in Japan, Buddhism was Shintoized,
and Buddhist temples sprung up in mountains and springs where Kami were said to reside.
Buddhist myths like the Vulture Peak, the Buddha’s residence, were linked to
local physical landmarks associated with Shinto folklore. Moreover, priestly offices devoted to
Kami worship persisted, and according to the admittedly imperial-affirming Nihon Shohi,
Prince Shotoku- Buddhism’s first major patron, was also an enthusiasm sponsor of Shintoism as well.
In 1185, the Classical Period of Japan ended with the beginning of the Kamakura Period.
The long process of the Shoen estates establishing power came to a climax, as the daimyo became
more powerful. The Kamakura Shogunate saw the outset of many Pure Land sects like Nichiren,
the most prevalent modern Japanese Buddhist school, rising to prominence. Japanese Buddhism,
by now fully embedded in Japanese society, kept producing philosophical, political and economic
contributions to society. Zen Buddhism also became popular during this time, and today Japan
is inseparable from Buddhism in the imagination of many peoples throughout the world. In this video,
we have seen that this journey was filled with equal measures of politics, art and strategic
propagation. For those who enjoy Japanese Zen Koens, or Heian poetry, the Buddhist path and
how it flourished amongst the cherry blossoms of Japan is essential to understand their richness.
Japan, Shinto and Buddhism, all came together under mount Koya in the heyday of the Sinosphere,
and forged a prosperous and tumultuous relationship which has blossomed to this day.
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