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RE: Random Japan #23 :: Lion Dogs and Phone Booths
This is really interesting. Do you know why the state separated the two religions?
This is really interesting. Do you know why the state separated the two religions?
Great question. The separation happened at the beginning of Meiji. The government wanted to promote Shinto as the one true faith of Japan in order to really emphasize the divinity of the Emperor and unite the country behind him. At the time people had no real conception of "Japan" except as a loose collection of similar countries ruled by the Shogunate; their "country" was their home domain. Very similar to how early Americans felt, as we can see when we read the letters of Thomas Jefferson and he refers to Virginia as his country. This was the beginning of the Emperor God cult all the stuff that would ultimately lead to WW2.
Anyway, so the Meiji government forcefully separated the faiths and put their full power behind promoting Shinto. Unfortunately, this meant they repressed Buddhism and in many cases actively sought to destroy it. Hundreds of temples were razed and many priceless artifacts destroyed. The government stopped their attack before long, but the damage had been done: Buddhism never really recovered. The sorry state of Buddhism today, which—with the exception of a handful of more serious temples (many of them zen)—remains as more or less simply a funeral business, is a direct result of this period.
Man. So interesting. Thank you!
Yes, I wondered why the Buddhist priests here were almost like mobsters in the way they "roll" (not in the sense of violence, but in the money raked in).
Truly saddened to hear this. Not surprised one bit, though. The violent, coercive, "divine right" religion ruins everything, always. It's the same divine right belief running the show in America, and all other nation states, though very few would admit to holding these beliefs.
Anyways, thanks so much for teaching me something today!
Similar to what happened in Korea during the Choson dynasty era...Buddhism was straight up illegal at one point, or rather, the leaders of Choson Korea wanted to follow the Confucius system and the original Koryo (old Korea) Buddhism was in a way... As a result, today, temples are a business and most monks are not of the way...