Shintoism: The Role Of Buddhism In Japan

Buddhism survived as the prime religion in Japan over Shintoism because of the way it went about seeking control appealed to all rather than few. There are few religions that dominate as greatly as Buddhism and Shinto in Japan. One was established by the Japanese themselves while the other was introduced by trade. Both manipulated their citizens and maintained control. However, Buddhism is the one that truly triumphed in its actions.

Shinto is an “…indigenous religion of the Yamato Japanese.” (School Text. 265) It was first established during the time of Yayoi culture. This has been shown to be true by the various archeological discoveries made that “ritual sites from the Yayoi period leave little doubt that during this period, people believed

in, and worshiped, spiritual powers that controlled the weather and the crops.” (Shinto History. 12) Various finds confirmed the existence of Shintoism during the Yayoi period. Still it wasn’t till after the Japanese people started “wet rice cultivation from the Asian continent.” (Shinto History. 12) that religion of Shinto started developing more. It became apparent that order needed to be established be village communities. The Clan Leaders took a central role in the refining it. “These chiefs played a central part in the rites surrounding the growing of rice, and their ritual role was essential element of their authority as local leaders.” (Shinto History. PG 17) The religion of Shintoism became a means in the Yayoi period for the Village to govern and restrict the community. Through Shintoism “…these chiefs maintained order within their communities through the performance of kami rituals.” (Shinto. 12) The leaders made their control over the people in their village “increase their own authority by linking to a specific kami.” (Shinto H.12)

Despite the Yayoi apparent strong impact on the Shinto religion it wasn’t until the rise of the Yamato Court became established. When this happened “When the Yamato court unified Japan, the myths of several clans were joined into a composite national myth.” (School Text. 266) The Yamato Court took control over the various tribes and established their chief as “the country’s ‘Great King’.” (Shinto H.12) In order to keep their place as the rightful royalty of Japan they created deliberate myths claiming their leader as heir apparent. While at the same time establishing the Sun Goddess Amaterasu-o-mi-kami as the overall deity in Shintoism. “Thus the emperor was looked upon as divine, even while living; by divine right he was the chief priest, and as such he presided over ceremonies of foremost importance. Aside from this his religious responsibilities were delegated to others.” (http://0-eds.b.ebscohost.com.library.regent.edu/eds/detail/detail?sid=39c86552-3c10-4490-b4d0-219418ee3d9c%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=39032029&db=khh) To contribute to their claim the Yamato Clan enforced rituals of “burial and succession.” (Shinto,short. 23) With these rituals their Emperor’s claim as divine was seen as even more legitimate. Those that follow the religion of Shinto knew not to argue with this. Another way they established control over other clans through marriage between the Yamato Court and leading clans. “These relations were reflected in a merging of myths and genealogies, resulting in a shared understanding of historical origins and blood ties.” (Shinto,short.25) Through this the clans combine with the Yamato’s forming an unified culture.

The Clan leaders were the first to use Shintoism as a means of control, but the Yamato Court took it a step further by claiming heir to the Sun Goddess and blending the Clans together through marriage bringing unity.

Buddhism, unlike Shintoism, was introduced to Japan as “fully fledged religious system in its own right.” (Shinto, a Short.28) The “Buddhists believe that prior to achieving enlightenment, beings are trapped in a wheel of rebirth, whereby they return again and again to life with its suffer- ing.” (Blending Buddhism, Shinto) It “began in the Tang Dynasty 607 C.E. (Text Book. 267) coming in along with various other trade goods from China. At first Buddhism did not have any apparent impact. It wasn’t until Emperor Soga no Umako that it begun to become of interest to Japan. He was “presented with an image of a Buddha from Packche (Korea) in 584.” (History of JapanBuddhism. PG 17) The image was so moving to him that he had the Buddha enshrined in a place of honor. After this, he commissioned a priest name Koguryo from the Korean Kingdom “to train three women as nuns.” (HoJB.17) Interestingly, like Shintoism the religion begun in the court of royalty. In the eighteenth century, this event claims as “the ordaining of these three nuns as the origin of Japanese Buddhism.” (HoJB.17) Not to say that Buddhism was regularly accepted at first. It was after all seen as a distant religion. Shown “when it was officially introduced into Japan, the Buddha was integrated as a guest or visiting god into the communal religion based on belief in the traditional Japanese pantheon of deities of heaven and earth.” (HoJB.16)

Buddhism gained its place in Japan through the induction of the Prince Shotoku into their ranks.

The Prince “played a key role in establishing Buddhism in Japan right after its official introduction.” (HoJB.18) Interestingly enough the Prince came to be so enamoured with the religion thanks to when he was young a visiting clergy from Korea went about “Prostrating himself one day, before the little son of the Mikado, the priest declared he recognized him the re-incarnation of one of the disciples of Buddha, and one who was destined to effect a great spiritual work in Japan.” (ReligioninJapan.52) This obviously stuck with Shotoku because after he came back from his visit to the Tang Dynasty he worked tirelessly to spread the religion of Buddhism as the one true religion. He revealed in his writings “This world is a lie,” he wrote, reflecting the Buddhist belief in an ultimate reality beyond.” (School Text.268) The priest’s control was subtle. He placed the prince in a position that promised authority and significance. This lead to Shotoku’s efforts to spread the foreign religion effortlessly which made Buddhism heir apparent to Japan. For this Shotoku is considered the Father of Japanese

Buddhism.”

Though this helped it wasn’t until the Thetaika Reform when Prince Naka-no-Oe took over Japan’s court that Buddhism finally got the break it had been looking for. The new Emperor established Buddhism as the official religion of the state. “In other words, Buddhism in ancient Japan was linked with the state, and its main role was praying for the wellbeing of the state centring on the emperor.the monks who prayed for the protec- tion of the state were official monks.” (HoJB.20) Thus, it became centralized. Under this new authority, Buddhism was controlled and maintained by the Emperor. He took control over the Buddhist monks and religious affairs. “The emperor had the power to allow whomsoever and however many people he wanted to become official monks.” (HoJB.21) No longer was this religion privatized now it was at the central height of everything in Japan. Control was thus taken from the Shinto religion over to Buddhism who continued to have an established foothold for years after. “Not until the mid-nineteenth century was Shinto disentangled from Buddhism, and then for political ends.” (Class Text. 276)

So why is it exactly that Buddhism began to thrive when Shintomism declined? The historic example is the Heian period. While Shintoism established itself the court through heir apparent in the royal bloodline this left out the ordinary citizens of the surrounding state. “The life of the common people of Japan remained harsh during the Nara and Heian periods.” (Text Book.270) Although Buddhism had become the central religion it was Shinto that placed the wealthy royals in the lead. The common folk were controlled by a “tiny aristocracy, about one-tenth of 1 percent of Japan’s population was encapsulated in the routines of court life,” (Textbook.270) They cared little for the commoners maintained authority over things. Another thing that led to the decline of Shinto is the fact that Buddhism focused on the individuals rather than just the community “Buddhism was originally conceived as a universal religion or a religion for individuals.” (AHistoryofJB. 17) It spoke out to the people as a whole allowing for many more possibilities than Shinto gave them.

Not only this but Buddhism managed to camouflage and blend their religion in with the Shinto deities.

“In the high culture of the capital, Shinto was almost entirely absorbed by Buddhism.” (Class Text. 276) The outlook of Buddhism took the gods of Shinto and shaped them to fit their viewpoint. This can be seen in the fact “Originally, it was believed that the Buddha would save suffering deities. Later, it was said that deities were the incarnations of the Buddha appearing as guardian figures for the salvation of the people.” (HoJB.38) They took those gods and made them Buddha so they were no longer merely gods. It was quite a clever way to influence religion. They appeared first as saviors and then transformed the old thought into a new point of view. Effortlessly connect the past with the present into their liking of

Buddhism.

Also thanks to Prince Shokotu’s efforts the religion was presented to the people. The royalty only counted for so much of the population. Reaching the commoners spread it further than could eve be realized. “It was common for both Buddhist monks and Shinto priests to live on the same premises.” This apparently could be looked at as bringing harmony between the two viewpoints. It made Buddhism appear as a friendly brother religion that wouldn’t oppose on their beliefs. However in reality “this honchi-suijaku-setsu placed the Buddha over indigenous deities, and in reality, the theory was applied in the relationship whereby Buddhist monks held control over shinto# priests.” (HoJB.39) They appeared friendly until they effortlessly weaved control over the Shinto priests and their practices. It is no wonder that Shinto later on begun to adapt elements of Buddhism into their own culture.

Clearly out of the two religions Buddhism dominated in control over the government, the citizens and the people. Buddhism survived longer than Shintoism as the prime religion in Japan because of the way it went about seeking control appealed to all rather than few. Shintoism was the indigenous nation that strived to establish its place as the main religion. They did this first through the Clan Leaders who established religious ceremonies and governed their villages. Then it was finalized through the Yamato Court who made their bloodline connection directly to the Sun Goddess their main deity. Marriage and the new office of religion helped heightened their authority. However when Buddhism came into the picture it started a foreign religion but thanks to the labor of Prince Shokotu begun gaining its legitimacy. It wasn’t until the Nara Period though that Buddhism took over as the state religion. Since then it has blended and maintained control over Shintoism. Truly it Buddhism that survived longer as the prime religion over Shintoism in Japan.