The Making of Modern Japan / An Account of the Progress of Japan from Pre-feudal Days to Constitutional Government & the Position of a Great Power, With Chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education, &c.

by John Harington Gubbins

CHAPTER XIV
Japanese Religions after Restoration: Christianity—Bushidō—Religious Observances.

The political considerations which have affected religious development in Japan are chiefly, though by no means entirely, connected with her modern progress. Under the Tokugawa administration matters concerning religion were entrusted to official dignitaries called Jisha-bugiō who, as their name, “Controllers of Buddhist and Shintō temples,” implies, took charge, in addition to other and more important administrative duties, of all business connected with these two religions. Both religions were thus recognized by the State, and were equally matters of concern to the Tokugawa Government, though its leanings were towards Buddhism. The Imperial Court, on the other hand, during this period favoured Shintō. This it had not always done. Until the advent to power of the military ruler Nobunaga in the middle of the sixteenth century Buddhism had for several centuries been the dominating religion. The Jesuit missionaries who then reached Japan found Buddhism at the high tide of its power. At the Imperial Court, and everywhere throughout the country, it exercised a supreme influence. Its military strength, too, at that time was formidable. The abbots of Buddhist monasteries in the vicinity of the Capital and elsewhere, like militant bishops in the Middle Ages in Europe, kept garrisons of fighting monks, which constituted a serious menace to administrative authority. A ruthless campaign conducted by the ruler in question put an end to this state of things. From the blow then dealt to it the Buddhist militant clergy never recovered. As a result of the movement in the eighteenth century, known as “The Revival of Pure Shintō,” to which reference was made in a previous chapter, Buddhism for a time came under a cloud. But its influence was subsequently re-established, Shintō sinking back again into the secondary place it had occupied before.

When the Restoration took place the respective positions of the two religions were entirely changed. The professed aim of the revolution being to restore the system of direct Imperial rule, the new Government naturally adopted every means of accomplishing this object. And, as belief in the divine descent of the Mikados was a part of Shintō doctrine, the encouragement of the native religion became an important point in the programme of the reformers. In the organization of the new administration, therefore, formed on an ancient bureaucratic model, prominence was given to religion in the single form of Shintō by the creation of a separate department of State for the control of Shintō affairs. To this the name of Jinji-jimu-Kioku, shortly afterwards changed to jingikwan, was given. Shintō thus became a synonym, as it were, for religion; while Buddhism was left out in the cold, and, as a Church, was practically disestablished. Nor did the zeal of the reformers, who had thus in effect created a State religion, end here.

A form of abdication of frequent occurrence in Japan had been retirement into the Buddhist priesthood. The custom was common to the whole nation, and its practice by Mikados, princes of the Imperial House, Court nobles and the feudal aristocracy, had increased the prestige of Buddhism, while enriching the sects whose temples were thus favoured. The new Government prohibited this custom, so far as the Imperial House and the nobility were concerned; all Riōbu Shintō temples were restored to their ancient status of Shintō shrines; and at the same time many Buddhist temples throughout the country were deprived of the lands from which their revenues were largely drawn. This act of spoliation served a double purpose. It benefited the depleted national exchequer and discouraged the adherents of the ex-Shōgun, whose family had always patronized Buddhism.

An innovation introduced at this time, with the object apparently of popularizing Shintō and bringing it into line, so to speak, with religions elsewhere, was the institution of Shintō funerals; the performance of funeral rights, as well as the care of cemeteries, having been entrusted hitherto to Buddhist priests.

That these steps were dictated by policy, and were not due to sectarian feeling, is evident from the whole course of subsequent action in regard to religious matters. In 1871 the jingikwan was abolished, and Shintō ceased to be the only State religion, though retaining to some extent its privileged character. The place of the defunct department which had ranked with the Council of State was taken by the Kiōbusho, or Department of Religion, in which both Shintō and Buddhism enjoyed official recognition, as before. For convenience of administration a distinction was made between secular matters and religious worship, the latter being placed under the control of a Bureau of Rites and Ceremonies. This distinction is still maintained. The official recognition enjoyed by each religion has been tacitly extended to Christianity; but the principle of State policy regarding Shintō survives. It is still par excellence the Court religion, though the fact that on the accession of a new Sovereign his robes are blessed at a certain Buddhist temple in Kiōto shows that Buddhism has still an accepted position at Court. There is a Shintō bureau in the Imperial Household Department, and a Shintō shrine stands in the Palace.

The services in the Palace shrine at which the Emperor personally officiates, and the worship by members of the Imperial family, or their proxies, at the chief shrines in the country, secure for the Shintō faith the first place in public esteem. The erection, moreover, in the Capital, since the Restoration, of a national shrine to the memory of all who have died fighting at home, or abroad, has established a new centre of Shintō worship, where the native religion, in direct association with military and patriotic sentiment, gains a fresh hold on popular sympathy. More recently, too, the functions of the Shintō clergy have been extended so as to include the ceremony of marriage, which was formerly unconnected with religion of any kind, while since the annexation of Korea a Shintō shrine has been established in Seoul.

The purely national character of the Japanese native religion excludes the idea of its propagation in foreign countries. No such obstacle exists in the case of Buddhism. After the Restoration several Buddhist sects turned their attention to missionary effort abroad. A more or less active propaganda has since then been carried on in Asiatic countries, and the right of Japanese subjects to engage in missionary work in China is recognized in the Treaty concluded with that country in 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War. The activity of the Buddhist clergy in recent times has shown itself in two ways quite unconnected with religious propaganda. Extensive journeys in Central Asia for political and scientific purposes have been undertaken by Buddhist travellers, who in the course of their wanderings have gained much valuable information; while others have done useful work in supplying the spiritual needs of Japanese communities abroad.

The reopening of Japan to foreign intercourse added another to the list of Japanese religions, though it was not till after the withdrawal of the anti-Christian edicts in 1870 that the Japanese people were permitted to adopt openly the new faith. If the progress Christianity has made since then compares unfavourably with its rapid spread when first introduced in the sixteenth century, this is explained by the less favourable circumstances attending its reintroduction. When introduced by Jesuit missionaries, it was regarded in some places as being simply a new form of Buddhism, the authorities being misled by a certain resemblance in ritual. On its later reintroduction it had to contend against official and popular prejudice due to the previous persecution, while, instead of being preached, as formerly, in the single form of Roman Catholicism, it came under several forms, the number of which increased as more missionaries arrived. A somewhat similar advantage, however, marked its introduction on each occasion. Just as Christianity, when introduced under Jesuit auspices, was at first encouraged for the sake of the trade which came with it, so, on its reintroduction, it was welcomed as a means of learning English. This advantage it still retains. An account, written in 1917, of the religious work carried on by the “Young Men’s Christian Association” since its establishment in the Capital in 1880 contains the following statement: “One of the most fruitful phases of the movement has been the securing of Christian college graduates from Canada and the United States to teach English in Japanese schools. While these teachers are appointed and salaried by the schools, they are free to use their leisure for Christian work among the students. There are now twenty-seven such teachers.” Evidence, moreover, of the close connection between Christianity and the modern progress of Japan, and of the benefit derived by the former from the increased study of foreign languages, which is one of the results of this progress, is supplied by a Japanese bishop, the Rev. Y. Honda, and Mr. Y. Yamaji in the chapter on Christianity contributed by them to the book already mentioned, Fifty Years of New Japan.

Opinions differ as to the future of Christianity in Japan. The Reports of foreign missionary societies furnish encouraging data regarding the results of missionary efforts during the last half century. Nevertheless, a feeling of uncertainty regarding the prospects of Christianity prevails both in Japanese and foreign circles. There is a tendency to regard the eventual Christianization of the country as doubtful, though the progress already made is freely admitted. To enter into the various considerations which influence opinion on this point would require more space than is at our disposal. An idea, however, which is entertained by not a few attentive observers is that, in the event of Christianity becoming in the distant future the dominant religion of Japan, it will be Christianity in a new form evolved by the people for themselves. They will do, it is thought, with Christianity as they have done with the Buddhism imported from abroad, and mould it to suit their own taste. This view derives some support from the two separate movements—one towards independence, namely, freedom from foreign control; the other towards amalgamation—which have taken place in recent years in several Japanese Christian churches. A notable instance of the first of these movements occurred some years ago in the case of the Congregationalist University in Kiōto. In that case the agitation for independence resulted in the control of the college passing into the hands of the Japanese directors, the American missionaries connected with the institution remaining simply as advisers. American influence predominates to-day in foreign missionary enterprise, the outstanding feature in the work of American missions being the establishment of educational institutions on a Christian basis. According to official statistics for 1917 the number of Japanese Christians amounted in that year to a little over 200,000.