The following is from Mr. Sekihei’s regular column published in the April 25 issue of the monthly magazine Hanada.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for readers around the world.
The Unparalleled Popularization of Buddhism in Japan
Following the previous installment, this article focuses on Buddhism—one of the three major elements Japan adopted from China or via China: writing systems, the ritsuryō legal codes, and Buddhism.
Buddhism originated in India and took root in many Asian countries, including Japan. However, in Japan’s case, it was not adopted directly from India, but rather introduced through China and the Korean Peninsula. This is a historical fact.
Nevertheless, once Buddhism arrived in Japan, it underwent three stages of development—Nara Buddhism, Heian Buddhism, and Kamakura Buddhism—and eventually evolved into a distinctively Japanese form of Buddhism, different from both Indian and Chinese Buddhism.
This is a crucial point for understanding the uniqueness of Japanese civilization.
During the Nara period, Buddhism was essentially a state religion, symbolized by the term “Buddhism for the protection of the nation.”
The state-led construction of provincial temples (kokubunji) and the Great Buddha of Heijō-kyō clearly illustrates the role of Buddhism as a national religion at the time.
In the Heian period, Buddhism took on the character of “aristocratic Buddhism” within the imperial culture led by nobles who dominated politics and culture.
The imperial family and nobility deeply believed in Buddhism, serving as patrons of temples and contributing to the faith’s prosperity.
The Amida Hall (Phoenix Hall) of Byōdō-in, built by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, is a prime symbol of this aristocratic Buddhism.
By the Kamakura period, Japanese Buddhism had undergone a remarkable transformation—from a faith of the aristocracy to one of the common people.
In other words, it had become “popularized Buddhism.”
This trend began in the mid-Heian period with Kūya, who laid the groundwork. Known as the “Holy Man of the Marketplace,” Kūya literally plunged into the lives of the masses, traveling across the provinces.
While chanting the name “Namu Amida Butsu,” he engaged in public works such as road and bridge repairs, devoting himself to the salvation of ordinary people.
The Buddhism that Kūya envisioned was exactly “Buddhism for the people.”
To spread his teachings among the masses, he avoided complex doctrines or scriptural exegesis and focused solely on reciting “Namu Amida Butsu.”
In the same mid-Heian period, a Tendai monk named Genshin, referring to himself as “a foolish and ignorant person,” proposed the practice of “shōmyō nembutsu” (chanting the name of the Buddha) from the standpoint of the unlearned populace.
This practice involved single-mindedly chanting “Namu Amida Butsu” to attain rebirth in the Pure Land, and its simplicity made it accessible to anyone.
Through his advocacy of shōmyō nembutsu, Genshin opened up the supreme realm of the Pure Land to the common people.
Building on this movement toward popularization in the Heian period, Hōnen, founder of the Jōdo (Pure Land) school who was active from the late Heian to early Kamakura period, further advanced this trend.
Hōnen referred to his path as “exclusive nembutsu practice” (senju nembutsu).
By simply and earnestly chanting the nembutsu, the path to salvation would naturally open.
There was no other Buddhist practice more straightforward and more in tune with the perspective of the common people.
Hōnen’s disciple Shinran took this one step further. He argued that not only could people attain rebirth through exclusive nembutsu practice, but they could also achieve “oneness with the Tathāgata” (nyorai tōdō)—becoming unified with the Buddha.
Roughly half a century later, Nichiren also made significant contributions to the popularization of Buddhism.
Calling himself throughout his life “a poor and lowly person,” he sought to create a new form of Buddhism based on Tendai teachings for the people.
He founded the Nichiren school, which centered on chanting the daimoku “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” as a path to salvation.
Another figure worth noting from Kamakura Buddhism is Ippen, the founder of the Ji-shū sect.
He spent his life traveling around Japan, spreading the practice of the “dancing nembutsu” among the masses.
His commitment to this method—which resonated deeply with the people—was clearly driven by a desire to save all sentient beings.
Over more than ten years of itinerancy, Ippen and his followers traveled from the Tokai, Hokuriku, and Tōhoku regions in the east to Chūgoku, Shikoku, and Kyūshū in the west, promoting the dancing nembutsu.
It is said that during this 16-year period, a total of 251,700 individuals who gave donations signed his kangi-chō (register of contributors).
Given the population of Japan at the time, this was a staggering number, demonstrating how widespread his movement had become.
By then, the popularization of Buddhism in Japan had reached its zenith.
Then came the Edo period.
Under the so-called danka (parishioner) system, Buddhism became fully integrated into the lives of ordinary people throughout Japan.
Temples, alongside Shinto shrines, became deeply rooted in every community—something unique to Buddhism in Japan.
Japanese Buddhism had, through and through, become “the Buddhism of the people.”
So then, what lay behind this uniquely Japanese popularization of Buddhism?
Upon closer examination, we are led to the traditional Shinto worldview.
This will be discussed in detail in the next issue.
