In 552, Buddhism was officially introduced into Japan.  Before this time, Japan had not seen a religion so complete with its thinking and its elaborate rituals.  Many aspects of this new religion awed many Japanese, and “it came as the revelation of a depth and significance in life and death at which they had not previously guessed” (Morton, p.17).  Ever since the first introduction of Buddhism, it was received differently by many people, went through different stages through the time periods, and influenced the Japanese culture significantly.

     Today, Buddhism can be considered as one of the few major religions of Japan.  However, it took a long time before it was widely received by the majority of the population.  As soon as it was introduced into Japan, the new faith created a controversy.  There was a division of people between the ones who worshipped the indigenous faith of Japan, Shinto, and the ones who favored the new faith.  Because the Soga were opposed to the Mononobe and Nakatomi, these powerful families were split between worshipping two faiths.  Therefore, their powers were heavily dependent on which faith the emperor worshipped.  At first, Buddhism was not a religion that attracted people of all ranks, but more of a religion that politically motivated the upper class members.  Nonetheless, it had a very profound effect on the way Japanese people viewed religion:  “it revealed to them the power of gentleness and opened up perspectives on the problems of life, death and suffering in the ways that Shinto was quite incapable of doing” (Morton, p.28).

    As time passed, the influence of Buddhism grew to create many monasteries and temples with many devoted monks and nuns.  However, this still did not attract the lower rank people, because the time and effort required for the faith was overwhelming.  The change of this selective faith came when the country was in danger of famine, declining government, and declining social order at the end of the twelfth century.  The introduction of the compassionate Amida Buddha led to the belief that anyone can have peace, salvation, and nirvana by calling on the name of Amida.  In this time where the jiriki or self-help could hardly help people survive, the monk Honen introduced the idea that humans are too weak to find enlightenment alone and that it only takes repetitious calling on the name of Amida to be enlightened.  Shinran, Honen’s disciple, took it one step further and proclaimed that the repetition of nembutsu, calling on the name of Amida, was not necessary.  He said that only one nembutsu with all honesty and all belief is required in order to be saved.  This appealed much more to the common people and these new teachings were widely accepted throughout Japan.  However, this also created the idea that evil men have a better chance of being enlightened than good men, because evil men would easily call out the name of Amida whereas good men would have more self-belief that they are indeed good men who deserve to go to heaven.  These new teachings by Honen and Shinran attracted many Japanese of all classes until the early seventeenth century when Confucian ideas took over.  This was during the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Confucian ideas, with “its conservative qualities and its stress on loyalty,” were ideal for the rules that the Shogun Ieyasu wanted to enforce, especially to keep the samurai under control (Morton, p. 127).  Thus, from the time that it was introduced, Buddhism was received differently by many various groups of people.  One of the reasons for this is simply that Buddhism went through many different phases through time.

     Through each of the periods of Nara, Heian, and Medieval, Buddhism had different teachings, different roles in society, and different people who worshipped this faith.  During the Nara period, it was evident just from looking at the temples built around this time, such as the Todaiji temple, that Buddhism established itself well in Japan.  One of the biggest effects of Buddhism was the immense political power that the monasteries gained.  The Buddhist clergies were becoming powerful figures, powerful enough to threaten the emperor to move the capital to Nagaoka.  This rise of Buddhist influence kept growing in the Heian period also.  The two new teachings by Saicho and Kukai had great significance and intrigued more court members.  Saicho’s teaching of Tendai (“heavenly platform”) Buddhism and Kukai’s teaching of Shingon (“true word”) both flourished, but this created many negative influences (Morton, p.36).  These two powerful sects created a serious rivalry, which disrupted the peace and became “a threat to the tranquility of the capital” (Morton, p.37).  Also, they were both esoteric sects.  Even though they taught that anyone could be enlightened, this came with the price that they had to isolate themselves and study for many years.  Therefore, it was a religion not easily appealing to the lower rank people and maintained itself as an esoteric religion for a long time.  During the Medieval period when the warrior families took over the court families, a new sect of Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan.  This new sect appealed to the warriors because it offered a “direct road to enlightenment through zazen meditation and release through discipline and inner control” (Morton, p.62).  “It is surprising that the faith which taught gentleness, reverence for all forms of life, and shunning of desire and hate” would appeal to the fighting men of this period, but with Shinto offering so little to the need of the warriors, there were no other alternatives to the ones who were religiously inclined (Morton, p.62).  Later in the twelfth century, Honen and Shinran found one of the most influential sects, the Pure Land sect.  This faith of the compassionate Amida Buddha appealed to all classes of people, especially to the common people.  This was probably the first time that so many of the common people converted and became religious.

     Not only has the changing culture affected the adaptation of Buddhism in Japan, but its culture has also been influenced by the introduction of Buddhism politically, economically, and artistically.  Buddhism already had a tremendous effect by the Nara period when the emperor Shomu declared himself a servant of Buddha.  This politically significant event established Buddhism as a major component of the government and continued to affect the politics in Japan.  Buddhism influenced the economy significantly when the system of the za or guilds were strongly developed between the temples and the merchants in the Ashikaga period.  While the merchants paid the temples for the market area they used to sell off their products, the temples provided the merchants with protection from the court or the government.  Also, the Buddhist temples directly participated in trading with China, since their knowledge of Chinese and their political power were greatly valued.  They also influenced the art in Japan very significantly.  Mono no aware was a concept derived from Buddhism, which meant “’sadness,’ ‘sensitivity,’ and ‘that which is emotionally moving’” (Morton, p.40).  This concept of gentle melancholy, which touches the sadness of the moment greatly, contributed to the Japanese aesthetics.  Also during the Muromachi period when the art flourished, Buddhism influenced a lot of simplistic art forms.  The flower arrangement, the faded painting of suiboku with many negative spaces, and “shibui or the quiet taste that accompanies the teahouse ceremonies” are all influenced by Buddhism, Zen Buddhism in particular (Morton, p.98).  Zen Buddhism also influenced the art of No play, which was “an entertainment of the sophisticated” that involved “poetic chant, mime, and slow posture-dance with elaborate costumes and masks” (Morton, p.100-101).  Also around this time, many famous Buddhist temples were built such as the Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, and Ryoanji, which are all still very famous sites in Japan today.

     In conclusion, it is clear that Buddhism had a tremendous impact on the people, history, and culture of Japan.  Buddhism influenced the creation of many national identities that separate Japan from other countries.  Morton states, “The combination of withdrawal from the cares of the world, artistic appreciation, intellectual conversation, and observance of a restful and loved pattern or ritual – and all of this in the atmosphere of Buddhist contemplation – gives to the Japanese soul a sense of refreshment and well being” (Morton, p.99).  Compared to other religions that came into Japan, perhaps there was something in Buddhism that was in parallel with the Japanese ideals to allow it to influence Japan as much as it did.