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New Japanese Religions - Åsulv LandeThere are two types of new religions in Japan: those which are imported, having their origins in other lands, and those which are home grown, having developed on Japanese soil. Although the imported new religions, derived mainly from Christianity or Hinduism, have appealed to the religious aspirations of many Japanese people, they have not been as influential or successful as the new religions that stem from Buddhism or Shintoism. For Korean Messiah Sun Myung Moon to have 200,000 Japanese followers seems disproportionate for a nation of 120 million people until that figure is compared to Tenrikyo’s 2.5 million members or Seicho no Ie’s 3.2 million members or Soka Gakkai’s 16 million members. To be sure, not all of the more than 171 new Japanese religions are as large as those three, but their combined membership and influence is substantially greater than that of the imported religions. One thoughtful observer, Akio Sagi, has proposed a historical model for interpreting new Japanese religions. He notes that the growth of those religions is associated with developments from 1868 onward during the reigns of Emperors Meiji, Taisho, and Showa--the period of modernization in Japanese history. Sagi calls the new religions “children of the Emperor system.”1) The word new, as applied to the native religions, refers to their originality, growth, and popularity. Whereas some of the new religions that were founded in the previous century have simply maintained their earlier size and popularity, others have flourished and bloomed within this century. Most of those new religions are nonbureaucratic, whose leaders adapt their teachings to accommodate changes in the Japanese culture. Both the political and economic systems were revamped during the Meiji era, and the problems of transition that resulted were considerable. A central government replaced the regional governments of Japan. Since the four class structures of Japan were closely related to the political system, the social organization, of Japan was radically altered. The bartering system was replaced with a centralized money system. The two new religions that effectively appealed to the dislocated people of that era presented themselves as retreats from the trauma of social upheaval. They were Tenrikyo and Konkokyo. Miki Nakayama (1798-1886) founded Tenrikyo which means “Heavenly Wisdom” (tenri means heavenly wisdom and kyo means teaching or religion). During a healing ceremony, Miki reportedly entered a trance and said, “I am the True and Original God. I have been predestined to reside here. I have descended from Heaven to save all human beings, and I want to take Miki as the Shrine of God and the mediatrix between God and men.”2) That revelation is the basis for Nakayama’s religious teachings which are outlined in her two books. It is also the starting point of her flamboyant, popular ministry. The appealing message of Heavenly Wisdom is eschatological: Nakayama’s writings teach that the heavenly kingdom of peace and happiness is soon to appear on earth. God the Parent, the creator and sustainer of all life, is the power behind the heavenly kingdom. There are a number of less powerful god who assist God the Parent, but they are not emphasized in Heavenly Wisdom today. At the end of her life, Miki so closely identified with God the Parent that she herself believed she was divine. Although Heavenly Wisdom’s creation story described Japan as the center of the universe and the Japanese as the original, supreme race and emphasized themes compatible to the new centralized government, Meiji officials persecuted the movement. But for the thousands of people who were dislocated by the transitions created by the new government, that persecution was not influential. Heavenly Wisdom quickly grew in numbers, particularly among farmers who lost their property and status during the Meiji land reforms.3) Their hope lay in the eschatological socialism of Heavenly Wisdom. Government approval of Heavenly Wisdom came only in 1909, years after the death of its founder. Although the eschatological kingdom has failed to arrive, Heavenly Wisdom continues to attract a large following. The religion is flexible and can accommodate theological changes when necessary. In Nakayama’s lifetime, for instance, Heavenly Wisdom described salvation as deliverance from pain and sickness. That definition later shifted to deliverance from economic and domestic problems, and currently Tenrikyo emphasizes spiritual salvation. Heavenly Wisdom has shifted from its farm-based constituency, having gained an urban membership in recent years. The movement maintains one of Asia’s larger libraries and has established Tenri University, an accredited school where Tenrikyo missionaries are taught foreign languages. Konkokyo, translated as “Golden Light,” was founded by Bunjiro Kawate (1814-1883). Like Miki Nakayama, Bunjiro was born to a farmer, and he remained in that vocation. At the age of 45, he had an intense religious experience which Golden Light describes in this fashion:
After years of earnest seeking and praying he at last found God, Parent of all men, the Parent-God of the Universe, who revealed himself to Konko Daijin (Kawate’s posthumous honorary name) as Tenchi-Kane-no-kami. It was on November the 15th of 1859 that the words of God came upon the Founder, calling him to the sacred mission of saving men, and revealing at the same time that the prosperity of mankind is the ultimate purpose of the Parent-God of the Universe, and that without the realization of that purpose God Himself is morally imperfect.4)
Although Golden Light is registered with the government as a Shinto Sect, and many Shinto rituals are maintained in its worship services, most observers agree that Kawate’s teaching created a new Japanese religion because he eliminated a number of practices that are important elements in Shintoism. The Shinto practices of magic, exorcism, and divination have been replaced with emphasis on piety, social welfare, and self-criticism. Kawate’s emphasis on the grace of God also contrasted with the tone of fear that ran through the popular local religions. He held the view that God is gracious to the frustrated; he is never capricious. Perhaps the greatest departure from Shintoism in Golden Light is Kawate’s belief in a mediator between God and humanity. In a belief uncharacteristic of the Japanese, Kawate taught that the leading patriarch of Golden Light is a mediator between believers and God and communicates the problems and sins of members to God. Thus, in contrast to Heavenly Wisdom, Golden Light placed emphasis on individual rather than group salvation. Since its founding over a century ago, Golden Light has been active in social programs. It maintains a foundation to provide academic scholarships, a public library, a medical hospital, and it has sponsored large publishing efforts. Golden Light encourages its members to read Christian, Shinto, and Buddhist documents, and despite its limited missionary efforts, it believes that its message will reach those religions as well. The 1920s and 1930s were periods of economic depression in Japan that witnessed a transition from internationalism to nationalism, from international trade to protectionist trade policies, and a growing militarism. The new religions that developed during the political, economic, and social upheaval of those two decades were Omotokyo, Sekai Kyusei Kyo, and Seicho no Ie. Omotokyo (or Omoto) means “The Teaching of the Great Origin,” and it spawned a number of splinter groups that are often referred to as the Omoto religions. The founder of Great Origin, Nao Deguchi (1836-1918), was a former Golden Light teacher who experienced a divine revelation at the age of 56. Her message was one of world reformation, not unlike Miki Nakayama’s. Said Deguchi,
The Greater World shall burst into full bloom like plum blossoms do, simultaneously. The time for Me, Ushitora no Konjin, to reign has come at last....Through the manifestation of Divine Power, the Greater World shall be reconstructed and transformed into an entirely New World. After going through an over-all cleansing, the Greater World shall be changed into the Kingdom of Heaven where peace will reign through all ages to come.5)
It was not until the Taisho era, however, when her adopted son (Onisaburo Deguchi) assumed leadership, that Great Origin began to cut a path of influence in Japanese society. The colorful Onisaburo was a skilled writer and effective communicator of Nao Deguchi’s beliefs. He propounded “Three Great Rules of Learning” which form the basis for all the Omoto splinter groups’ beliefs. First, the body of God is nature. Second, the energy of God is that which causes the universe to move. Third, every living creature possesses the soul of the true God. As Nao Deguchi said, everything is divine. That theological orientation, together with a belief in the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God, led Onisaburo to criticize the government for its military activities; namely, annexing Korea, Manchuria, and Taiwan in an effort to put Asia under one political roof. It also led him to believe that only he could provide adequate leadership for Japan. In that vain, Onisaburo began to imitate Japanese royalty with such effectiveness as to attract a large following. In 1921 he was arrested and imprisoned, however, during what is called the “First Omoto Incident.” He was released shortly thereafter and allowed to return to religious activity, although the Great Origin temples had been destroyed. Whereas Onisaburo continued to teach the same beliefs, after his release from prison he became a supporter of the emperor. Between 1921 and 1935 Great Origin membership reached nearly three million, and it developed a strong international network of communication with other religious traditions. Onisaburo, however, began to imitate the emperor again, which precipitated the “Second Omoto Incident.” In 1935 the leaders of Great Origin were arrested, charged with lese majesty, and convicted. The movement dissolved and the government destroyed all of the buildings on Great Origin property. A short revival of Onisaburo’s popularity after his release in 1942 was cut short by his death in 1948. Between his arrests, however, Deguchi had produced an 81-volume encyclopedia that served as a basis for Sekai Kyusei Kyo, Seicho no Ie (both described below), and Ananaikyo. Sekai Kyusei Kyo, “World Salvation,” was founded by Mokichi Okada in 1934. Okada broke away from Great Origin to form his own theories (still based on Great Origin thought) of healing practices. He was critical of Western influence on the medical treatment found in Japanese hospitals and among doctors in private practice. Okada related illness to spiritual clouds and prescribed his own ways for removing them. Notable among his treatments are applications of finger pressure, hand pressure, and herbal medicines used in other Japanese folk religions. Seicho no Ie which means “House of Growth” began in 1930 under the leadership of Masaharu Taniguchi, another ex-member of Great Origin. House of Growth teaches that there is no such thing as moral sin. In fact, it is that belief in personal sin that accounts for the existence of evil. Conversely, all good things arise from the belief that all humans are equally the divine sons of God. Doing good is the result of mental perception being translated into action. Removing evil, suggests the House of Growth, is accomplished through recognition of the liberating truth. Disease is cured through those same liberating perceptions. As an eclectic religion, House of Growth has drawn on Christian Science, and its commentaries on many Bible passages reflect interpretations similar to Buddhist and Shinto ones. Taniguchi supported the emperor system to such a degree that he believed all religions, including Christianity and Buddhism, had their source in the emperor. Those doctrines were modified, however, after the Second World War. The new Japanese religions of the Showa era include both those founded in the Taisho period which flourished years later and those developed when the Showa era collapsed. That era spanned the years immediately preceding and following the Second World War. Some observers argue that movements of the 1960s and 1970s are distinct from the Showa era groups. If one is considering imported new religions in Japan, that is a valuable perspective. But if one is considering the new Japanese religions, common theological and historical themes emerge which relate modern groups, whose heritage lies in either Omotokyo or Nichiren Buddhism, to the Showa period. Omotokyo and its related religions have grown during the Showa and afterward. Great Origin has sent missionaries abroad to pioneer dialog with other traditions, and it has participated in cultural exchanges. New religions related to Great Origin have also broadened their horizons to include activities in Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the United States. Among the more notable spin-off movements are Perfect Liberty Kyodan and Mahikari Bummei Kyodan. Nichiren was a 13th-century Buddhist monk who founded a distinctly Japanese sect of Buddhism because he was dissatisfied with the Chinese prevalent in Japan. He was also concerned about political affairs such as the military threat posed by the Mongol Horde who sought to invade Japan. Nichiren’s ten years of study at a monastery in Mt. Hiei led him to believe that he, and he alone, could save Japan from religious malaise and political domination. Nichiren’s teachings were characterized by the identification of religion with national life, an intolerance of beliefs other than his own, and an apocalyptic mysticism based in Mahayana Buddhism. Along with six disciples, Nichiren aggressively spread his religious and political ideas for 30 years. Nichiren formed what persists today as the consciousness of Japanese Buddhism exclusively from the Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law, a document of Indian origin, written in Sanskrit around the time of Christ. The important elements of the Lotus Sutra which Nichiren emphasized were a worldly concept of salvation, religious equality among the different social classes in Japan, the opportunity for each person to achieve Buddhahood, and mission and conversion. Nichiren disciples characteristically chant the title of the Lotus Sutra--”Namu Myoho Renge Kyo”--in the belief that the words invoke special power. Those words are also inscribed on a mandala which is believed to be the work of Nichiren himself. Among the variety of sects founded by Nichiren’s six disciples is Nichiren Shoshu, the fountainhead of Soka Gakkai. Soka Gakkai which means “Value-Creating Association” was founded by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944) in the l930s. Makiguchi was an elementary-school principal in Hokkaido, north Japan who used the principles of Nichiren Shoshu to establish educational principles that were highly utilitarian. Since Soka Gakkai was a minor sect in Buddhism at the time, Makiguchi’s imprisonment for refusing to worship the Sun Goddess (the emperor’s ancestor) meant the loss of leadership for only a small group of people. In the wake of the Showa collapse, however, Soka Gakkai experienced a rebirth under the guidance of Tada Josei whose planning and organizational goals have been followed in subsequent years with great success. Because the values based on Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra and the promise of health were so attractive, Soka Gakkai added new members at a rate of 100,000 per month in 1960, a growth which leveled off at 16 million in 1970. Its emphasis on creating values for society naturally led the large movement into the political arena, both by nominating candidates for office and entering into public debate about policies. Soka Gakkai members have been elected to important political offices and have also wielded political influence through publishing and campaigning. More recently, Gakkai has emphasized broad cultural aims in addition to its political and religious vision. Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai’s leader in the 1970s, held dialogs with such leading cultural historians as Andrè Malraux and Arnold Toynbee. Its efforts to promote peace have included opening lines of communication with foreign governments to promote cultural exchange and missions projects. Soka Gakkai’s mission to the West has concentrated on France and the United States. The movement has, without substantive challenge, dominated the new religious scene in Japan since the World War. Two other Nichiren-related new religions of note are Reiyukai and Rissho Kosei Kai. Reiyukai, translated as “Friends of the Spirit,” was founded by Kakutaro Kubo during the Showa era, but it only experienced genuine popularity in the late 1940s. Whereas its teachings are virtually the same as Nichiren Buddhism, it has placed greater priority on ancestral worship which is attractive to many Japanese. Friends of the Spirit is also active in social programs, having contributed extensively to rehabilitation centers for the physically handicapped and the Red Cross and having donated a large hall to the city of Tokyo for welfare work. Rissho Kosei Kai which means “Establishment of Righteousness and Friendly Intercourse” is a split-off from Friends of the Spirit. Founded in the Showa period by Nikkyo Miwano and Myoko Naganuma, this new religion also emphasizes the teachings of Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra. The movement is different, however, because it stresses personality development based on the bodhisattva ideal; that is, everyone can follow the path to Buddhahood through living the life of moral and spiritual wisdom, rejecting Nirvana in order to serve a suffering humanity. It is that perfect life which breaks the laws of karma and reincarnation. Rissho Kosei Kai has a large following because it also emphasizes family relationships and exhibits positive social concern. For example, they have contributed greatly to the work of the World Conference of Religions and Peace. The new religions form a joint front as they voice similar, negative critiques of the political society which, they say, is dominated by craving, materialism, and greed. Daisaku Ikeda, former president of Soka Gakkai (Japan’s most politically active new religion), calls society an “ocean of flames.” By that he means that politicians turn their backs to the people’s need, and the people in turn distrust the politicians.
It is a pity to see how our modern civilization has been dominated by man’s individual self and has developed without any control. Man’s greed has disturbed the environment, tapped much of the oil resources, and constructed a gigantic technological civilization. Large skyscrapers, swift means of communication, unnatural food, and terrible atomic weapons are signs that man is attached to earthly and materialistic greed. There is no doubt that mankind will be destructed if man is dehumanized in this way.6)
Nikkio Niwano, the leader of Rissho Kosei Kai, preaches the same message. Hunger, poverty, and war in the world are all rooted in greed, which is nothing but egoism. Omoto leaders join in that lament as well. “When man arrives at the civilized age, he has become selfish and greedy, not knowing what the true God desires. He is in all he does egoistic, having turned the world into a world of beasts where the strong exploit the weak. There is no room for God in his life....it is a dark world.”7) When the new religions effectively communicate such a thoroughly condemning critique of society, it is no wonder that their religious messages appear as a hopeful light. Religion, then, is the solution. Ikeda says that life unfolds itself according to its own laws, the laws Buddhists call karma. There is fundamentally only one karma which supports the origin of life, the universe, and the development of the individual. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for political leaders as well as common individuals to know that law. Here religion has its value. Religion is to use the law of karma to govern and direct the process of life.8) The same faith in religion is expressed in Rissho Kosei Kai as well as in Omoto. Politics, according to Omoto, needs to be united with religion. Whereas the religious organization should not interfere with politics, politics should nevertheless be founded upon religious ideals.9) The new religions believe that through their specific acts and methods an alternative way, that is, religion, is revitalized. And, as a result of those revitalized religious traditions, the world’s problems will be solved. That diagnosis and prescription appeals to about 20 percent of the Japanese population today. It is in that context that Christians in Japan should be encouraged and exhorted to communicate that Christianity, too, provides prophetic counsel and, moreover, both personal and social redemption.
Notes 1. Akio Sagi, Shinko Shukyo (New, flourishing religions) (Tokyo: Isseki Shoten, 1981).
2. Harry Thomsen, The New Religions of Japan (Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1963), p. 34.
3. Hiro Takagi, Nihon no Shinko Shukyo (New, flourishing religions in Japan) (Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho, 1955).
4. Thomsen, op.cit., p. 70.
5. Ushitora no Konjin was the God of Konkokyo. This quotation is from Ofudesaki, the Holy Scriptures of Omoto, Omoto edition (Kuoto, 1974), p. 1.
6. From a paper delivered by President Ikeda, 1 April 1974.
7. Nao Deguchi, Ofudesaki, the Holy Scriptures of Omoto, 2 December 1896.
8. Ikeda’s paper.
9. From Omoto no Oshie (The Teaching of Omoto) (Kameoka: Omoto Foundation, 1972), p. 194.
Aasulv Lande is a Norwegian pastor who worked in Japan from 1965 to 1980 under the sponsorship of the Scandinavian East Asia Mission and the Norwegian Missionary Society. While there he concentrated his energies on evangelism and interreligious dialog, particularly Christianity and Shintoism and Christianity and new religious movements. Rev. Lande has published numerous articles in both English and Japanese missions-related journals.
What They Have in Common The new Japanese religions hold a number of social and theological characteristics in common. In his book The New Religions of Japan, Harry Thomsen suggests that there are eight such similarities. The new religions
--focus on a religious shrine because the idea of place is of extreme importance
--are easy to enter, understand, and follow
--are based on optimism
--want to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
--emphasize that religion and daily affairs are inseparable
--rely on a strong leader
--give members a sense of importance and dignity
--teach (with the exception of Soka Gakkai) the relativity of all religions
Recommended Further Reading
Books
1. Bethel, Dayle M., Makiguchi, The Value Creator, New York, Weatherhill, 1973.
2. Brannen, Noah S., Japan’s Militant Buddhists, Richmond, VA, John Knox Press, 1968.
3. Earhart, H. Byron, The New Religions of Japan: A Bibliography of Western-Language Materials, Monumenta Nipponica, Sophia University, 1970.
4. Ellwood, Robert S., Jr., The Eagles and the Rising Sun, Americans and the New Religions of Japan, The Westminster Press, 1974.
5. Kitagawa, Joseph M., Religions in Japanese History, New York, Columbia University Press, 1966.
6. Kohler, Werner, Die Lotus-Lehre und die modernen Religionen in Japan, Zurich, 1962.
7. McFarland, H. Neill, The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan, New York, The Macmillan Co., 1967.
8. Offner, C. B. and van Straelen, H., Modern Japanese Religions, New York, Twayne Publ., 1963.
9. Schneider, Delwin B., Konkokyo, A Jappnese Religion, Tokyo, The International Institute for the Study of Religions, 1962.
10. Thomsen, Harry, The New Religions of Japan, Rutland, VT, Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1963.
Periodical Articles
Bocking, Brian, “REFLECTIONS ON SOKA GAKKAI,” The Scottish Journal of Religious Studies, 1981, 2(1):38-54. Daisaku Ikeda resigned as president of Soka Gakkai in 1979 as a result of tensions between Soka Gakkai and its parent sect Nichiren Shoshu. An analysis of events leading up to Ikeda’s resignation (and beyond to lawsuits in 1981) shows that the problems experienced by Soka Gakkai parallel in part those experienced by Nichiren himself. That is because Nichiren Shoshu has preserved NiChiren’s shikishin funi unitive understanding of the mind/body relationship, hence ambivalent attitude to social/political reform and Buddhist practices derived from the Lotus Sutra. Ikeda’s resignation signals the resolution of a syncretistic tension between Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai. My conclusion, therefore, diverges from the usual view that Soka Gakkai will become more conciliatory: “recent events and the inner logic of Nichiren Shoshu point in exactly the opposite direction.” (Author’s abstract)
Okubo, Akinori, “A STUDY OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN TENRIKYO,” Tenri Journal of Religion, 1981, 15:10-30. Social welfare activities have a long history in the Tenrikyo religion. This is described in outline and related to developments in modern social welfare in general. A brief comparison (partly statistical) is made with social welfare provision in Buddhism and Christianity in Japan. The article concludes with a survey of current provision and reflections on the ideas which underlie it. (Abstract in Journal)
Putnam, Gareth, “TENRIKYO: FROM JAPANESE FOLK RELIGION TO UNIVERSAL WORLD RELIGION,” Japanese Religions, July 1981, l1(4):37-52. Putnam outlines the history of Tenrikyo, a popular Japanese religion which withdrew from the Association of Shinto Sects in 1970 and began stressing with renewed vigor its character as a unique religion with a universal mission. He traces its founding, its existence as a Shinto sect, its reformation, and the history of its overseas missions. He closes with a discussion on the hindrances to the spread of Tenrikyo overseas and some attractive elements of its theology. (Unisa Missiology Project--DTN)
Uehara, Toyoaki, “THE SHINTO MYTH: MEANING, SYMBOLISM, AND INDIVIDUATION,” Tenri Journal of Religion, 1981, 15:62-119. “In the study which follows, an effort is made to shed new light on the Japanese myth system by subjecting that system to an analysis based upon the Jungian and dialectical principles of psychoanalysis. This theory as an approach to understanding a myth system might be called the psycho-evolutionary theory. A strong parallel is assumed between the development of individual ego-awareness and the emergence of group consciousness in primitive stages of the development of a society.” The article continues with a detailed analysis of the myths of the Kojiki and the Nihongi in these terms. (Abstract in Journal)
A Catalog of New Japanese Religions Founder: Founded: Number of believers Number of teachers: Holy center: Object of worship: Address:
Omo Tokyo Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address:
Reiyukai Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers: Holy center: Object of worship: Address:
Rissho Kosei Kai Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address:
Seicho no Ie Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address:
Sekai Kyusei Kyo Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address:
Soka Gakkai Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address: Tenrikyo Founders: Founded: Number of believers: Number of teachers Holy centers: Object of worship: Address: 271 Mishirna/Tenri-shi/Nara Prefecture/Postal Code: 632
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