A visualized story on the arrival of Buddhism in Japan

Buddhism is one of the two major religions in Japan, though most Japanese are flexible/tolerant about religions and have practiced elements of both of Buddhism and Shinto (Japan's indigenous religion).

 
A temple called Seson-ji, stands in Oyodo Town, Yoshino, Nara Prefecture on the site of another temple called Hiso-tera. A set of documentary records materials surviving in the temple illustrates how Buddhism arrived and was accepted in Japan in the sixth century. The materials were digitized with high imaging quality and made accessible to the public.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Buddhism arrived in Japan through China and Korea. Before the "official" introduction of Buddhism in the first half of the sixth century, Buddhists including immigrants from China and Korea would have already been practicing in Japan.
The "official" introduction of Buddhism to Japan is dated to 552 according to the Chronicles of Japan when King Seong of Baekje (now western Korea) sent a mission to Emperor Kinmei that included Buddhist monks or nuns together with a Buddhist statue and sutras to introduce Buddhism. 

There were fierce arguments for and against worshipping Buddha. The Soga clan supported the idea while Mononobe clan worried that the Japanese indigenous Gods would become angry at this worship of a foreign deity. Then Emperor Kinmei allowed only the Soga clan to worship the Buddha in order to test its efficacy. Thus, the powerful clan seems to have played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country, in spite of obstructive behaviors by their enemies.

HISO-TERA 

The said story had been occurred in areas close to Yoshino, as Yoshino was located at a moderate distance from the capital cities at that time, if not easy access due to undeveloped transportation and the mountainous terrain.

 
Hiso-tera, a predecessor of Seson-ji, is the oldest temple in Yoshino, which was supposedly built in the middle of the seventh century. Seson-ji is the current official name as an active temple, but it has been called in various ways due to its vicissitudes such as: Hiso-tera, Yoshino no tera (8th cent. or earlier), Genko-ji (about 8th to 12th cent.), Hohkoh-ji, and Seson-ji (1751 to today). The original building doesn’t exist, and its history remains poorly understood. The story on the temple’s beginning came to include some lore during 1200 years after the establishment. The primacy treasure at the temple is said to be the Buddhist statue firstly created in Japan, but a recent survey indicates it was remanufactured in the 18th century, much later in time.

“GENGO-JI ENGI EMAKI”

Those who strove to restore Hiso-tera (later Seson-ji was established instead) created not only the Buddha statue(s) but also a pair of picture scrolls called “Genko-ji Engi Emaki” in the second half of the 17th century. Picture scroll (in Japanese, Emaki) is an illustrated belt-like paper/silk with calligraphy and illustrations, preserving as a roll. It’s a kind of old narrative media similar to visual books.

A pair of scrolls are 18.4 meters (approx. 60 feet) in length in total, depicting how the temple was established in the ancient period, restored in the Kamakura era (mainly from the 13th to mid-fourteenth cent.), in addition to the visit of Emperor Godaigo (reigned from 1318 to 1339). It should be noted that the painters/writers represented the understanding on the history as of the 17th century, more than 1100 years after the alleged establishment of the temple in 553. The costumes in the scrolls look like those in the 10th century or later. That being said, the materials in the 17th century are sufficiently old and valuable.

 
Today, it's difficult for ordinary Japanese to read and appreciate the materials even just 150 years ago. So the town officials produced an introductory movie by collaging the digitized materials and adding comments and guidance on the plot.

CONTENTS OF GENKO-JI ENGI EMAKI

Click Image to watch the movie

[Episode 1]

• 00:17 One night in AD553, shining camphor tree was drifting to Osaka Bay, and the Public was curious about it.

• 01:46 The camphor tree was transported to the Court of Emperor Kinmei in Nara Prefeture today.

• 02:11 A high-rank official asked the Emperor what to do with the camphor tree.

• 02:26 Princess Iwakuma (daughter of Emperor Kinmei and a lady from the Soga clan), who were serving as so-called royal shrine maiden, conveyed a divine prophecy that people should make a Buddhist statue.

• 02:59 Finally a Buddhist statue was sculpted and dedicated to a temple Toyura-do.

• 03:58 However, the temple was burned by opponents of Buddhism headed by Moriya MONONOBE. Buddhists managed to salvage the statue and scriptures. Later, a knot of Moriya was destroyed by Umako SOGA and Prince Shotoku.

• 05:00 The temple was restored as Yoshino-no-tera. The shining statue dictated the origin of Hoko-ji (Hoko means “casting light”). Also, the name of Genko-ji came from the miracle of Buddhist statue which should remain radiant today.

• (05:57) For reference, the principal image standing at Seson-ji today, though the original statue was lost.

[Episode 2]

• 06:13 One moonlit night in 595, in the time of Empress Suiko, a 2.7-meter sacred tree drifted ashore to the Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture.

• 06:29 When local residents threw into the oven, the tree gave out an odor in the wide vicinity. It turned out to be an agarwood, scarce fragrant wood.

• 06:53 People decided to carve Buddhist statue(s) from the agarwood.

• (07:08) Prince Shotoku sculpting an image of himself.

• (07:17) For reference, Statue of 16-year-old Prince Shotoku, from the Muromachi era (1336-1573), owned by Sesonji.

• (07:25) Tori, an excellent craftsman of the time.

• (07:41) For reference, Eleven-faced Kannnon (statue of Goddess of Mercy), from the Nara era (710-784), owned by Seson-ji.

• 07:50 Sick people, older women, and blind people visited the temple to seek a miracle. The odor immediately cured their challenges. The temple came to be called “Hiso-tera” as well, meaning “reviving everyone”.

• However, the temple was ruined for some reasons and the Eleven-faced Kannnon was lost. In the Kamakura era (1185-1333), Hiso-tera was one of branch temples under Saidai-ji. A high monk of Saidai-ji and his disciples strove to revive Hiso-tera. 

• 09:36　One day, An old lady appeared in the village of Hiso, saying, “I salvaged and has protected the statues of Prince Shotoku and Kannon, but I’m going to die. She handed over the statues to a disciple at Saidai-ji.

• 10:08 So the statues came back to the temple. Another disciple reconstructed temple buildings.

[Episode 3]

• 11:12 Later, Emperor Godaigo (reigned from 1318 to 1339) bestowed the name to the temple and visited the Yoshino.

• (12:17) Crossing the Yoshino River

• (12:42) Blooming Genko-ji

• 12:50 Existing Picture scrolls

For Seson-ji with ENG subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBu0s8MLCX8