Japanese New Religions in Global Perspective

Peter B Clarke, Peter B. Clarke

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136828720
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Since the 1960s virtually every part of the world has seen the arrival and establishment of Japanese new religious movements, a process that has followed quickly on the heels of the most active period of Japanese economic expansion overseas. This book examines the nature and extent of this religious expansion outside Japan.

Chapter One

New Japanese Religions in the West

Between Nationalism and Universalism

Catherine Cornille

One of the characteristics which appears to distinguish the new Japanese religions from the traditional religions of Japan is their universalistic orientation and international missionary zeal. Shintoism, the native religion of Japan, focuses uniquely on the creation and the salvation of Japan and the Japanese,¹ and has been often used for nationalistic and ethnocentric purposes.² And Buddhism, which is essentially a universalistic religion, developed distinctly nationalistic traits when moving into Japan, propagating itself as the ‘protector of the nation’ and performing rituals in service of the rulers and for the prosperity of the people. Within the syncretism which came about between Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan, Buddhist divinities came to be regarded as manifestations of Shinto deities and thus came to be identified with the creation of Japan and with Japanese sacred places. While in China Zen Buddhism remained aloof of any association with kings or princes, in Japan it was embraced by the ruling warrior classes whose spirituality and ethos it shaped, and by whom it was in turn itself influenced. This exchange gave rise to some of the highest expressions of what is now considered as typically Japanese culture such as the tea-ceremony, different forms of martial arts and swordmanship, flower-arrangement, the nō-theater etc. Japan also gave rise to a truly indiginous school of Buddhism called Nichiren Buddhism, whose founder Nichiren (1222–1282) viewed Japan as the center of the world, or as the world itself. In his commentary on the verse of the Lotus Sutra: ‘the Buddha appeared in the world’, Nichiren stated: ‘by “world” Japan is meant…’, thereby also referring to his own role in the history of salvation. It may thus safely be said that ‘Nichiren was a patriot, considering himself as the pillar, the eyes and the great vessel of Japan’ (Kitagawa 1966:121). One of the most distinctive characteristics of what has come to be called ‘Japanese Buddhism’ is thus its nationalism.

While prior to its arrival in Japan, Buddhism had travelled a long way from India through China and Korea, Japanese Buddhism itself has, up till the twentieth century, manifested little or no missionary zeal. The emergence of Japanese shrines and temples outside of Japan in the past hundred years have been mostly the effect of economic circumstances, first of deprivation and later abundance, leading to the emigration of Japanese workers and business-people to the West, where they continued to practice their faith. Trained priests were sent and temples were built mainly to cater to the needs of expatriate Japanese.³ Thus, for example, Jodo Shinshu temples were built in Hawaii, the United States, Latin America and eventually also in Europe. While the Hongwanji Headquarters were ambivalent about sending missionaries to the United States, the two first Japanese Buddhist missionaries were dispatched in 1899, in response to an explicit plea from the Young Men’s Buddhist Association of America:

For those of us living in the United States there is no possibility of basking in the Compassionate Life of the Buddha. Not only are we unable to hear about the Bodhidharma in general, we are cut off from enlightenment through the teaching of Jodo Shinshu. Thus we are unable to understand and appreciate the heart and mind of Shinran Shonin. How we lament at such a state of affairs. Who would not lament? In the eight directions are non-Buddhist forces surrounding the Japanese Buddhists, and we cannot be at ease. It is as if we are sitting on the point of a pin; no matter how we move, we will be pricked. Our burning desire to hear the Teachings is about to explode from every pore in our body… (Quoted in Fields 1992:144).

The first Japanese Buddhist missionaries were thus sent not to convert Westerners to Buddhism, but to attend to the needs of their own followers abroad. The ceremonies were conducted mostly in Japanese, and until a few decades ago there was little or no effort to attract Westerners and to adapt to the Western context. As Shintoku Peel, a European Shin-Buddhist priest states: ‘Whenever some Caucasian people became by chance interested in Jodo-Shinshu, they remained outside the Japanese collectivity. Theirs was an individual choice and standpoint and generally they were not too warmly welcomed in the Buddhist temples, which functioned not so much as places of religion, but more often as guardians of the Japanese cultural identity’ (1985:99). Most of the early immigrants moreover strongly believed in the myth of the eventual return to Japan and saw no reason for any form of inculturation or adaptation of the faith to the new context. However, with the entry of second and third generation Japanese who often barely knew the Japanese language, and the occasional conversion of Americans and Europeans, the need was gradually felt to adapt the tradition more to its Western context. In the past few decades, Westerners, both male and female, have been ordained monks, nuns, and priests in the various schools of Japanese Buddhism, and gradually more interest has developed in the spreading of Japanese Buddhism in the West.⁴

While this broadening of horizon is a rather late development in Japanese Buddhism, and while the Shinto tradition remains essentially Japanese, the new religions of Japan have manifested from the outset a universalistic orientation. These religions emerged in largely three waves, the oldest dating from the middle to the end of the nineteenth century, the second flourishing after the Second World War, and the third, the ‘new new religions’ emerging in the past two decades.⁵ The universalistic attitude of these religions is manifested in their teachings, practices and aesthetic expressions. The revelations or realizations of the founders of these religions are directed not only to the people of Japan, but to the whole world, and their practices are characterized by a universal accessibility of the means of salvation. On the aesthetic level, the international dimension is reflected in a mixture of Japanese and Western architecture and decor. Many of the new religions have also established international headquarters and more or less conscious missionary strategies.

On the other hand, many of the new religions have also retained explicitly nationalistic and ethnocentric tendencies, claiming Japan to be the origin of creation and the cradle of salvation and the Japanese to be the chosen people. They call for a return to traditional Japanese values such as submissiveness, obedience and sincerity and reinstate traditional practices such as the worshipping of ancestors and purification rituals. In this paper I shall look at how these seemingly contradictory tendencies toward universalism and nationalism coexist in those new religions which have developed missionary activities in Europe, and how this contradiction is resolved, if indeed it is.

Tenrikyo

‘To every corner of the earth I will go to save’

The very oldest of the new Japanese religions is Tenrikyo, founded in 1838 by a peasant woman, Miki Nakayama. In the process of summoning the help of various shamanistic healers to cure her son’s disease, she found herself possessed by the god Tsukihi or Tenri-O-no-Mikoto who requested that she become his living shrine. Her mission came to be understood as that of ‘sweeping the dust of human hearts’ (Ofudesaki XVII:11)⁶ and bringing about a life of joy. Whereas the focus of Japanese religions at that time did not extend beyond the islands of Japan, Miki Nakayama was from the outset called to accomplish her mission ‘throughout the world’ (Ofudesaki XVII:11). This is reflected in the fifth stanza of the Mikagurauta, the main hymn of Tenrikyo and part of its canonical literature, which states: ‘Not only in Yamato, but to every corner of the earth I will go to save’. This universalism may be understood in relation to monotheistic beliefs which gradually developed in Tenrikyo. God came to be regarded as the creator and parent of all human beings: ‘Being the creator of the world, all human beings are my children’ (Ofudesaki IV:62) and ‘All human beings are indeed brothers and sisters and there exists none who is an utter stranger’ (Ofudesaki XIV:53). From this it followed that the salvation of the whole world became the expression of the love of God: ‘When all human beings have accomplished the purification of their minds and come to live a life full of joy, I Tsukihi, too, will become cheered up. When I become cheered up, so will all human beings’ (Ofudesaki VII: 109–110).

The universalistic understanding of salvation in Tenrikyo is also related to its belief in the uniqueness of the foundress. While other religious traditions are not explicitly rejected, various statements in the texts of Tenrikyo imply that they have not captured the whole truth. In the very first verse of the Ofudesaki, God the Parent says, ‘Looking all over the world and through the ages, I find no one who has understood my heart.’ And the second verse of the prologue to the Mikagura-uta reads: ‘It is natural indeed that man is ignorant of the truth, for I have not expounded it to him.’ While it is thus suggested that God has not revealed himself fully in other religions, Miki Nakayama is presented in the very first revelation as the full manifestation of God: ‘I am the Creator, the true and real God. I have the preordination for this Residence. At this time I have appeared in this world in person to save all mankind. I ask you to have Miki as My living Shrine’ (Tenrikyo 1966:7).

These universalistic beliefs were put into practice in Tenrikyo through missionary activities, not only in Japan, but also abroad. According to the movement, the greatest service to the people (hinokishin) consists in ‘conveying God’s mind to other people.’ And ‘those who have devoted themselves to hinokishin in the above sense, finding in it the value of living, are called yōboku and are the ideal human image in Tenrikyo’ (Tenrikyo 1981:190–191). Tenrikyo originally focused its foreign mission on Asia, sending missionaries at the end of the nineteenth century to Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, and China. This mission could be seen, at least initially, as the result of social and political circumstances, rather than as a conscious and calculated missionary policy. The first Tenrikyo missionaries to China and Taiwan followed the Japanese troops in the 1894 Sino-Japanese war. Others left Japan as a result of the Meiji persecutions of Tenrikyo and started to proselytize in other countries of Asia. Soon, however, international mission became a more conscious strategy: missionaries were sent to various continents and their hardships became part of the heroic lore of the tradition.⁷ The first mission station in the West was established in London in 1908, and missionaries were also sent to North America and to Brazil prior to the second world war. In 1918, the Young Men’s Asociation was founded which set itself as goal to form arakitoryo, or pioneer missionaries who bring the teachings of Tenrikyo where they have yet to be conveyed. In 1927, an Overseas Mission Department and a Foreign Language School were established in the Tenrikyo headquarters. It was, however, only after World War II that the overseas mission became a policy for the whole movement. The Tenrikyo Missionaries Association was established which currently counts about eight hundred thousand members and whose mission is ‘to experience the joy of single-hearted salvation, awakening to their duty as the instruments of Oyasama; to help one another in perfect union; and to engage actively in propagation work in order to realize a joyous life according to the will of God the Parent’ (Tenrikyo 1986:155). Its activities include 1) constant use of the Scriptures, 2) spreading of the teaching and salvation, 3) transmission of faith, 4) hinokishin, 5) get-together of yoboku, 6) general meeting, 7) seminars and lectures, and others. The Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department consists of nine subdepartments for the different areas of the world, and one translation department. In Europe, mission stations and overseas offices were established in Germany (Munich), Italy (Milan and Rome), England (London), the Netherlands (Haarlem), and France (Paris, Bordeau, Perpignan). The total number of members in Europe does not exceed one thousand, and half of these live in France, where the only Tenrikyo church is located. Most of the members of Tenrikyo in Europe are Japanese.

The Jiba as the centre of the world

While the term ‘nationalism’ in the strong sense may not be applicable to Tenrikyo, some of the teachings of the foundress have nationalistic undertones and have come to be used for nationalistic purposes in the history of Tenrikyo. These teachings relate mainly to the creation myth, which is at the heart of Tenrikyo doctrine and practice. According to this myth, the creation of the world took place at the Jiba, a place designated by the foundress and currently located in the city of Tenri, close to Nara. This is also emphasized in the Ofudesaki which states: ‘There at the Jiba did I begin to create all the human beings of the world. The Jiba is the native place of all people. This shall be our eternal home’ (XVII:7–8). The myth further specifies that ‘Human beings were conceived at the Jiba of Origin 900,099,999 years before October 26, 1838 [date of the beginning of Tenrikyo]. After conceiving them in three days and three nights, Izanami-no-Mikoto stayed there for three years and three months, and gave birth in seventy-five days to those children in the following order: first in an area of seven ri square between what later became Nara and Hase; second in the rest of what later became Yamato Province; and third in what later became provinces of Yamashiro, Iga, Kawachi; and then in the rest of what later became Japan’ (Tadasama 1983:95). Marking the exact place of the origin of creation is a pillar called the kanrodai, the axis mundi which forms the central point of worship within the movement. Every month, the story of creation is reinacted during the Kagura-service which is only performed around the Kanrodai, and only by a select group of 10 eminent members. During this service, the ritual dancers wear animal masks and re-enact the creation story. The teaching and practice of the creation story are regarded as the very essence of Tenrikyo, as reflected in the following words from the Ofudesaki: ‘If only I can teach the origin of human beings throughout the world, then I will work whatever kind of salvation. Indeed, with a single word I will save you from and and every matter’ (XII:129–130). Members are encouraged to attend the Kagura service at the kanrodai as often as possible and are greeted with the words ‘okaeri nasai,’ ‘welcome home’ or ‘welcome back’ upon arriving in the city of Tenri. The return to the Jiba and the participation in the Kagura Service is said to be ‘the extension of God’s work of creation’ and ‘the way to universal and perfect salvation in every respect’ (Tenrikyo 1986:51). The ultimate goal of Tenrikyo is that of ‘all people returning to Jiba, worshipping again around the Kanrodai’ (Tadasama 1983:95).

While Miki Nakayama’s emphasis on the Jiba as the place of creation and the origin of salvation may be regarded as no more than a classical example of the notion of the ‘axis mundi’ which may be found in most religious traditions, it may also breed nationalistic ideas and feelings. Even in the Ofudesaki itself, there are verses with more explicitly nationalistic connotati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction Japanese New Religions Abroad: A Case of ‘Reverse’ Globalization
• 1. New Japanese Religions in the West: Between Nationalism and Universalism
• 2. Spiritual Companies, Corporate Religions: Japanese Companies and Japanese New Religious Movements at Home and Abroad
• 3. Japanese Religion in Australia: Mahikari and Zen in a Multicultural Society
• 4. The New Japanese Religions in Brazil: Some Remarks on the Church of World Messianity
• 5. Modern Japanese Millenarian Movements: Their Changing Perception of Japan’s Global Mission with Special Reference to the Church of World Messianity in Brazil
• 6. Adapt or Perish: The Story of Soka Gakkai in Germany
• 7. Spirit First, Mind Follows, Body Belongs: Notions of Health, Illness and Disease in Sukyo Mahikari UK
• 8. Illness and Salvation in Tensho-Kotai-Jingu-Kyo – The Dancing Religion of Hawaii
• 9. Shin Buddhism in the West: An Overview
• 10. ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’: Japanese New Religions Abroad
• Select Bibliography
• Index