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The allure of rock

October 8, 2012 / John D. / 1 Comment

The cliff-hugging Yamadera in Yamagata Prefecture

What is it about rock temples? Some of the most stunning spiritual sites are those that perch on cliffsides in China and Burma. Tohoku too boasts the wonderful Yamadera. And on my recent World Heritage trip to the Deep North, I was delighted to come across two more little treasures set in rock.

One of the discoveries was the Takkoku no Iwaya, outside Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture. The other was Oya Temple, near Utsunomiya which is the gateway to Nikko. Both reflect the mountain yearnings of esoteric Buddhism; both are embedded in the spirit of rock; and both are deeply syncretic.

Shinto of course has a close connection with rock. Its gods arrive by rock-boats; kami manifest in large boulders; and Amaterasu withdrew into a cave when she fell out with her sibling Susanoo. Some of my favourite shrines are set near cliffsides and honour large rocks as the ‘body-spirit’ (goshintai) of their kami. You could say indeed that Japanese religions are no less built upon rock than Judaism and Christianity!

A Tendai temple

Rock-cliff temple near Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture

Cliff face at Takkoku

The Tendai temple of Takkoku no Iwaya (pictured above) was established after the military leader Sakanoue no Tamuramaro claimed the area in 801 on the orders of Emperor Kammu to subdue the ‘northern barbarians’. He gave thanks by having a hall dedicated to Bishamonten (deity of conflicts). It was modeled on Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, and being a long-term citizen of the ancient capital I’m always pleased to find echoes of the city in far-flung parts of the country.

A Buddhist image (see left) was carved on the rock beside the hall, as if the cliff itself has grown a face. Temple and mountain, human and nature, seem here perfectly complementary. In the main hall stands the imposing figure of Bishamonten. As one of the Seven Lucky Gods, the deity is a well-known figure in Shinto shrines where he and his colleagues often show up in a Lucky Treasure Boat. Buddha or kami? For Tamuramaro, perhaps it spanned the divide.

A Shingon Temple

Oya Temple, outside Utsunomiya

Oya Temple also claims a ninth-century foundation, in this case by the legendary Kukai (also known as Kobo Daishi). That shows it belongs to the Shingon sect, said to be the closest in Japan to tantric Buddhism. Its cosmos is filled with numerous Buddhas, some of which are carved out of the cliff-face in which the temple is set. Recent work has shown the site to have Jomon remains, dating back as far as 10,000 years.

Inari shrine guards over Oya Temple

The cliff setting has resulted in a closeness to nature and awareness of its numinous power, made manifest in a protective shrine to Inari which guards over the temple. Shinto is said to be a religion of awe, and there is definitely something awe-inspiring about the surrounding setting and sculpted artwork at Oya.

The awesomeness is nowhere more apparent than in the massive Heiwa Kannon which was carved by hand out of the nearby rocks from 1948-54. It remains the largest stone Buddha in Japan. Dedicated to the war dead, it also serves to draw visitors to the area, as the nearby coach park attests.

Religious devotion or tourist attraction? The two have long gone hand-in-hand in Japan, since the erection of the Great Buddha of Nara in 751 if not before. Hachiman was brought from Usa in Kyushu to act as protective guardian at Nara. Here at Oya, Inari fulfills a similar function.

One type of deity (buddha) is represented in rock; the other (kami) is invisible but manifest in rock. Despite the best endeavours of the Meiji ideologues to separate Shinto and Buddhism for nationalist ends, the interconnectedness of the two faiths is set in the rock of ages. Complementary and symbiotic, the natural syncretism of Japan continues to find its greatest expression in the rhythms of rock.

The Heiwa Kannon, largest stone buddha in Japan at 27 meters tall

Imperial Household Law

October 5, 2012 / John D. / 3 Comments

The peculiarities of the Imperial Household Law are highlighted in the article below, which explains the latest developments concerning the lack of males in the emperor’s family. The present laws are nothing to do with antiquity, but were drawn up after the Meiji Constitution and amended thereafter. With the heir to the throne only having a single female child, there had been discussions about what should happen to secure a male successor despite the historical precedent for reigning empresses. Discussion stopped once the younger brother of the heir produced a son. Yet bizarrely, the present Constitution guarantees equality under the law.

Hashihaka grave near Sakurai in Nara prefecture, possible burial site of the third-century Empress Himiko

What’s all this got to do with Shinto, one might ask? Well, it has little to do with groundroots activities, but the emperor is viewed as head priest of the religion as a whole because he is descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess. The country’s premier Shinto shrine at Ise enshrines the imperial family’s ancestral spirit. “Shinto’s ideal form of state is one in which the emperor reigns while all kami, with Amaterasu at the center, are the object of ritual and worship,” states the Kokugakuin Encyclopedia of Shinto.

Although the emperor renounced his divinity at the end of WW2, he is still referred to as the 125th in line from Amaterasu and at his enthronement participates in a religious rite called the daijosai in which he communes with her spirit.

Given the rediscovery of the Goddess principle in the West, and the greater awareness in recent times of the role of the miko (female medium) in ancient Japan, one might have thought that if the imperial system was going to be retained, the time was long overdue for the return of a reigning empress. Himiko is dead; long live Himiko!

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Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 Japan Times

New concept of Imperial female branches mulled
Kyodo

The government proposed on Friday enabling female members of the Imperial family to establish their own Imperial branches after marriage to commoners, amid concern over the falling number of royal household members. The establishment of female Imperial branches “should be considered” only for daughters and granddaughters of emperors, the government proposal says.

The Imperial Household Law requires female members of the Imperial family to relinquish their Imperial status after marriage to commoners. Among the 21 Imperial family members under Emperor Akihito are eight unmarried females, including Princess Aiko, 10, the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, and Prince Akishino’s two daughters, Princess Mako, 20, and Princess Kako, 17. The three princesses would be subject to the new system if it is created.

Princess Aiko, reportedly bullied at school, may have cause to smile at the prospect of starting her own branch of the imperial family (REUTERS/Imperial Household Agency of Japan)

The proposal, which clarifies points for upcoming discussions concerning the status of female Imperial family members, also lists both ideas to give and not to give Imperial status to the husband and children of a princess who establishes her own Imperial branch. It says the idea of retaining the title of princess after marriage to allow them to engage in Imperial activities “would be difficult to implement” in light of the Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law.

The proposal mentions an idea to give such female Imperial family members status as national public servants to remain involved in royal activities. In creating a new system, the proposal says the government would make sure that opinions of the female Imperial family members will be reflected and that the system would not be an obstacle for their marriage.

The government will take public comments on the proposal over a period of about two months with the aim of mapping out a draft amendment to the Imperial Household Law and submitting it to the Diet next year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said. The matter has come into focus due to concern the Imperial family may not be able to maintain its activities in a stable manner given the large number of female compared with male members.

The proposal drew positive responses from the Imperial Household Agency. An agency official said it was “significant” that the government listed the points of discussion as a way to deal with the decreasing number of Imperial members. Another official expressed hope that discussions over the matter “would move forward” after the government gathers opinions from the public.

But some other officials pointed to the uncertain outlook over creation of the new system. “It may be difficult to decide on one direction concerning the Imperial Household Law as there are a variety of opinions,” one said.

The present wife of the emperor, Empress Michiko, on a visit to Kyoto. She was from a Catholic family and became the first commoner in history to marry into the imperial family (prior to that Mishima apparently considered marrying her.)

Spirituality on the rise

September 30, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

The Japan Times carries an editorial today suggesting that Japan’s postwar obsession with material prosperity may have passed over into a greater concern with spirituality….

(The full editorial can be seen here.)

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Sunday, Sep. 30, 2012

Spirituality on the rise

Is Japan a spiritual-oriented or materialistic society? The answer is definitively spiritual, according to the most recent national livelihood survey by the Cabinet Office. The highest percentage of Japanese ever — 64 percent — said they are now placing priority on “spiritual fulfillment” rather than “material richness.”

The survey also found the lowest percentage ever, 30.1 percent, pursuing wealth as their main priority in life. The percentage of those pursuing spiritual matters has led the annual survey since 1979. However, the relative difference between spiritual and material values reached its highest gap this year.

Watching the tragic destruction caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 surely changed many people’s life priorities. The sustained economic downturn has also shown many people, whether they wanted to see it or not, that they can enjoy their lives with less money than they once imagined.

The turn away from affluence showed up in another result of the survey. According to 66.5 percent of people, what is most in need of improvement in Japan is the economy. That doesn’t necessarily mean they seek affluence. The ideal of the Japanese economic miracle is receding even further into the past, replaced by the realities of the current economic situation. People do not want to get rich; they want the economy to function.

The ongoing trend in Japanese life also involves a revaluation of lifestyle issues. More of those surveyed, 37.7 percent, said they preferred pursuing leisure and recreational activities, rather than a higher income (33.3 percent). Personal fulfillment and human relations have begun to receive greater attention and concern.

Unfortunately, government policy and foreign relations do not always reflect this national mood. It is not that the government should interfere in spiritual matters, much less promote them, but the economic engines should not be repaired simply to pump up the level of affluence, but to allow people to get on with their other interests.

The survey indicates that people now have concerns that go past the limits of material acquisitiveness.

Kyudo and Shinto

September 30, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

Ted Taylor has kindly written in to point out an exceptional video made available by Empty Mind films, who produce high-quality films of Asian spirituality. Their stunning youtube video is just 3.38 minutes long. Here is the company’s introduction to the subject:

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Text by Empty Mind (The Martial Arts of China, Japan and India)

We have just uploaded a new video on Youtube featuring the use of Kyudo or Japanese archery in a Shinto ritual Since ancient times the bow has been revered as a sacred instrument. It is believed to have the power to destroy evil, cleanse the spirit and to bestow magical powers. The bow has been used by shamans throughout the world as an instrument of power and weapon against the forces of evil. In Japan the bow has also long been considered to be the ultimate weapon of warriorship and its mastery was the highest achievement of the Samurai warrior. In the Shinto and Buddhist traditions the bow is used to protect, purify, remove obstacles and attract good fortune.

Whistling arrow (courtesy of K. Komatsu)

Kyudo has been used in Buddhist and Shinto rituals of purification. (For example- Shihobarai– the Purification of the Four Directions) and small bows have been placed in shrines and people’s homes for protection against the forces of evil and for purification. They are also believed to have the ability to attract vast good fortune. Hama-yumi replicas are scale versions of a Japanese Bow coated with urushi, wrapped in fine rattan and accented in gold leaf. They are displayed in a stand along with two arrows tipped with traditional warrior tips, one representing male and the other female.

The bow and arrow is used in a number of ceremonies that are dedicated to the Shinto gods of the heavens, the Amatsukami, and the gods of the land, Kunitsukami. This video is the Kabura-ya or whistling arrow, where a Shinto priest shoots the arrow over the entrance roof of the temple. The arrow makes a high pitch whistle sound as it flies through the air to ward off evil spirits. The entire ceremony lasts more than one hour.

Purifying the four directions at Setsubun

Sumo at Meiji Shrine

September 29, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

( AFP/Getty Images / September 28, 2012 ) Accompanied by sumo wrestler Takarafuji (R), new yokozuna, or grand champion, Harumafuji performs the ceremonial entrance into the ring at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. The Mongolian sumo wrestler was promoted to the highest rank 'yokozuna.'

Yesterday there was a sumo ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo watched by 3000 people to celebrate the award of the top rank of yokozuna to the Mongolian wrestler, Harumafuji. The award means that the two top-ranking sumo wrestlers are now both Mongolian. Considering the links of sumo and Shinto, and of continental influences on early Shinto. this is a most interesting development.

Asashoryu (courtesy of lami japan)

Sumo and Shinto have a long and close history. The wrestling started as an entertainment put on before the kami, or ‘august dignitaries’. Many of the customs, such as purifying the ring with salt, attest to traditional Shinto practice. A rice rope and shide paper strips adorn the Mongolian wrestler in the picture above.

Since its foundation, Meiji Shrine has been associated with sumo ceremonies. The shrine was started in 1915 and completed in 1920 for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken (who died respectively in 1912 and 1914). The highest ranked sumo wrestlers dedicate the shrine every January.

Concerning the origins of sumo, the Kokugakuin encyclopedia has this to say…

In China, there existed from before the Former Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–8 C.E.) a kind of wrestling resembling sumō that belonged to the miscellaneous arts of sangaku. Some of these arts entered Japan … That competitions were decided through sumō wrestling in ancient Japan can be inferred from the existence of Kofun-period haniwa clay figures representing wrestlers, as well as from myths and legends, such as that of the test of strength between the kami Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata, recorded in the Kojiki (712), or the wrestling match between Taima-no-Kuehaya of Yamato and Nomi-no-Sukune of Izumo on the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Suinin, as recorded in the Nihon shoki (720).

Sumō wrestling bouts were also held as divination rites at New Year’s to predict the outcome of the coming agricultural season. The Nihon shoki records that in the seventh month of 642, “strongman wrestling” was held on the occasion of a visit to Japan by an envoy from the Paekche kingdom. This is the first piece of historical evidence available for sumō. During the Nara period (710-784), sumō established itself as a court event.

Mongolian grand sumo champion Yokozuna Hakuho performs the “ring entering ceremony” during a dedication at Meiji Shrine, Tokyo, Japan, on January 6, 2012. {Photo UPI/Keizo Mori}

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For a full report of the ring-entering ceremony at Meiji Shrine by Harumafuji, please see here.

Nikko: Futarasan Shrine

September 28, 2012 / John D. / 2 Comments

View of the Futarasan honden, built in 1619

Futarasan Shrine is part of the complex, along with Toshogu shrine and Rinno-ji temple, that makes up the World Heritage Site of Nikko. it was founded in 767 by a monk called Shodo Shonin and dedicated to three Izumo kami, principally Okuninushi (also known as Onamuchi).

The traditional approach to the shrine was over the Shinkyo Bridge, to which an interesting legend is attached. According to Joseph Cali in his book Shinto Shrines, when Shodo Shonin prayed for help to cross the River Daiya, the water god Jinja Daio appeared and tossed two great snakes across the water, forming a bridge over which the monk was able to pass.

A bridge formed by two snakes, according to legend

Mount Nantai constitutes Futarasan Shrine’s main go-shintai (sacred body), with two other mountains playing a similar role for the two other enshrined kami. Interestingly, Nantai (男体?) means “man’s body”, as if to suggest that it is the physical manifestation of a spirit. Wikipedia notes that “The mountain not only provides water to the rice paddies below, but has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites.”

The main building is the Honden, built in 1619. ‘It is a magnificent structure,’ comments Cali, noting ‘the complex roof of black-lacquered copper tiles and lots of gold trim’. There happened to be a wedding there when I visited, and the open-sided aspect allowed visitors to share in the joyful occasion.

Because the Chinese characters for Okuni can also be read as Daikoku, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, there is a Daikoku hall at the shrine full of sculptures of the colourful character.

Daikoku in front of the Daikoku Hall

Okuninushi's familiar is a mouse, hence also Daikoku's

There are also some unique fortune-telling features outside. One consists of throwing a ring onto a row of sticks. ‘Just one successful throw will predict good luck,’ says the accompanying sign. One woman I saw got all three rings onto the sticks, so she sure is going to have a lucky year. Another fortune telling device consisted of plastic sushi in a circular drum, which was spun round. One’s fortune depended on which sushi piece ended up closest to the line.

Ring-throwing for good fortune

In the precincts was a pleasant pool of spring water, with a sign asking people not to throw coins into it. No doubt the custom stems from European wishing-wells, though I wondered why the shrine authorities should object so much. Perhaps it stemmed from the polluting nature of money being tossed into clear spring water, though in ancient Japan it was common practice to make offerings of mirrors and other objects in sacred pools. Later in the afternoon, watching a miko going around collecting money offerings from all the prayer spots at the various shrines (about a dozen in all), it occurred to me there may be a more practical reason. It simply wasn’t convenient to collect the money from the pool.

No coins, please, in the sacred spring

If your heart is as smooth and round as this stone, you will have a good life

A golden mikoshi for Okuninushi

Futarayama Shrine, Utsunomiya

September 27, 2012 / John D. / 0 Comments

Entrance to Futarayama Shrine

Water basin and fortune slips - two staples of the Shinto shrine

Perhaps the first thing to say about Futaryama Shrine is that it’s not related to its more famous neighbour Futarasan Shrine in nearby Nikko. One is written 二荒山; the other is written 二荒山. Spot the difference?

My immediate thought was that there must be some odd connection between them. ‘There are some theories about that,’ the miko told me. ‘But the shrines are quite separate. Futarayama is called Two Hills because there were two hills here.’ One might presume Futarasan was named for just the same reason, though in his book Shinto Shrines Joseph Cali speculates that the name derives from Fudarakusan, Japanese for the earthly paradise of the thousand-armed Kannon.

Shrine within a shrine: torii tunnel for the Inari subshrine

The shrine is associated with Prince Toyokiiri, a son of the legendary Emperor Sujin (possibly third or fourth century). He was ordered by his father to the region to pacify the Ezo tribe (presumably Ainu), so like several other ancestral shrines in the Tohoku area, it owes its existence to the imperialising tendencies of the Yamato tribe.

Banner proclaiming the virtues of the ofuda - for Japanese

After the initial foundation, worship of Prince Toyokiiri was relocated to the present site in 828, and a commemorative ceremony is held every year in December and January.

The shrine has a number of treasures, including an iron-cast Komainu guardian dog. The present buildings only date from 1877, after the shrine burnt down for the fourth time in its history. Nonetheless the grounds have a patina of age, though it’s by no means a must-see shrine – unless, like me, you happen to be stuck in Utsunomiya on the way to the World Heritage Site at Nikko…

One disconcerting thing from an internationalist perspective was a banner proudly proclaiming the virtues of the ‘ofuda‘ or talisman – for Japanese. ‘The ofuda is the heart and soul of a Japanese, and the mark of one’s hometown,’ it said. Despite being the ‘gateway to the World Heritage of Nikko’, Utsunomiya it seems prefers to keep a decidedly insular view of the transcendental.

The shrine's ema bears a dragon, symbol for Japanese and non-Japanese alike