Buddhism in Crisis? Institutional Decline in Modern Japan

Abstract

Concerns that established temple Buddhism in Japan is in a state of crisis have been voiced by priests in various sectarian organizations in recent years. This article shows that there is a very real crisis facing Buddhism in modern Japan, with temples closing because of a lack of support and of priests to run them, and with a general turn away from Buddhism among the Japanese population. In rural areas falling populations have led to many temple closures, while in the modern cities people are increasingly turning away from the prime area in which Japanese people have traditionally engaged with Buddhist temples — the processes of death and their aftermath. Partly this is due to competition from new secular funeral industries, but partly also it is because public perceptions of Buddhism — which has become over-reliant on death rituals in Japan — have become highly negative in modern times. Even practices which have often been seen as areas in which Buddhist temples have been able to attract people — such as pilgrimages — are proving less successful than in the past, contributing further to a sense of crisis that threatens to undermine Buddhism’s roots in Japan.

Dynamism and the Ageing of a Japanese ‘New’ Religion

“…Katō's account of Tenrikyō's problems has been confirmed in interviews with officials in the movement (Reader 2012: 20), while the authors have also heard numerous Notes 179 179 similar reports from officials in new religious movements about their problems in recent times. For further discussion of the issue of decline in religious organizations in Japan, see Reader (2012) and (on Buddhism in particular) Reader (2011) and Nelson (2012). This was to an extent because many religious organizations, notably new movements in the wake of the Aum Affair, were concerned about the attacks that had been made on them in the media over many decades and were reluctant to expose themselves to the new online media (Baffelli, Reader and Staemmler 2011: 20-34); see also Fukamizu (2011: 39-61) for an example of an older established religious organization that faced similar problems that hampered its use of the internet.…”

“…For more discussions on such issues and the image of established traditions such as Buddhism being out of touch, see Murai (2010), Nelson (2012), Reader (2011) and Ukai (2015). See Reader (1994: 58 fn.…”

“…As a result Sōtō began to produce a large amount of pamphlets, monthly magazines and so on -in a similar vein to the new religions -in order to try and counter the appeal of the new religions and maintain the loyalty of their existing followers (Reader 1983). Other Buddhist sects have done similarly -although the general pattern of declining affiliation in the older Buddhist sects suggests that this strategy has not always worked (Reader 2011). See also Shimada (2005 and for two highly critical discussions of the costs of death rituals in the context of Buddhism in Japan.…”

Thinking about Pilgrimage, Particularly in Modern Japan

“…He believes similar competitive rivalries between pilgrimages over attracting a greater clientele have also occurred in Japan. Shikoku's increasing participation rate, to cite one case, has come at the expense of other pilgrimage sites like Saikoku and Shōdoshima ( Marketplace , 18, 45; see also Reader , ). The small inland sea island of Awaji has five pilgrimage routes, but as one has grown the others have waned.…”

Experimental Buddhism: innovation and activism in contemporary Japan, by John K. Nelson

“…One permutation of Article 20 would be that people are free not to have anything to do with religious belief or practice at all: the inexorable trend since 1947, borne out by long-term statistical evidence, has been precisely that (Reader 2011(Reader , 2012Astley 2015). Whilst one may have sympathy for the projections that Nelson makes in his concluding chapter, it is hard to see what concrete arguments could be put forward to counter the weight of this historical trend.…”