Luckily, I had already done an interview with a monk in the article mentioned above, so I sent him a message asking to help me out again. Being the generous monk that he is, he agreed to my request. So, he made a draft of the differences among Japanese Buddhists (only the main ones) and I translated it into English. I also made a flow chart for better understanding (I desperately needed this for my own understanding).

Once you all become more familiar with the history of how Buddhism formed in Japan over the years and the differences between them, he would also like to give you a detailed description of his life as a monk of the Shingon-sect. I hope you enjoy this article and what is to come.

Differences among Japanese Buddhism Sects

According to the “Japan Statistical Yearbook 2014” conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2013, around 84.7 million people in Japan are considered to be “Buddhists” regardless of whether or not they are considered “practicing Buddhists.” There are also many different Buddhist sects, too many to learn in just one article. There are 59 main sects that are affiliated with the Japan Buddhist Federation and that’s still not all of them. I can’t introduce them all, so instead I’ll focus on the 13 major sects and their history in Japan.

To help you along on this journey, I made a “Buddhaful” flow chart that you can use to follow along. There are a lot of sects and it becomes confusing, and this helped me a lot (and I hope it helps you too!)

Prince Shoutoku Taishi and Japanese Buddhism

As many of you may already know, Buddhism originated in India around 500 B.C. and surged across Asia within 1000 years. The last place it arrived was Japan, first from Korea and later from China. This happened in the mid 6th century. It’s said that the foundation for Japanese Buddhism was sustained and strengthened by Prince Shoutoku Taishi (574~622) because it spread quickly under his influence. He deeply accepted Buddhist concepts and even utilized them for political ideas. He also built temples such as Houryuuji and Shitennouji, the former was pressed into service as an academic temple for Hosso, one of the six Japanese Buddhist sects.

Nara Buddhism -Nanto-Six-Sects

Todaiji Temple

When the period changed from Asuka (550-710) to Nara (710 – 794), which occurred due to the capital getting moved from Asuka to Nara, aka Nanto, Japanese ambassadors called Kentoushi brought back academic Buddhism from China (the Tang Dynasty) and people studied it in the temples in Nara. This academic Buddhism was classified and divided into six sects called The Six Sects of Nanto (南都六宗/なんとりくしゅう): – 三論 (Sanron) : Three Treatises – 成実 (Joujitsu) : Establishment of truth – 倶舎 (Kusha) : Study of the Abhidharma-kosha – 法相 (Hossou) : Mind-Only – 華厳 (Kegon) : Flower-Garland – 律 (Ritsu) : Rules of Discipline

Hossou-Sect

Among these six sects, Hossou (a.k.a. Yuishiki) was the sect that studied Yogacara, which originated in India. It still remains with two of the main temples, Koufukuji and Yakushiji, and has maintained the practice of the tradition even into modern times. In this sect, Buddhists delve into their own minds and into the transient world where everything is changing and there are no permanent things. Unlike the principles of Sokushin-Joubutsu (即身成仏) in Esoteric Buddhism, which means attaining enlightenment while still in the flesh, Hossou-sect established the theory that there are distinctions among people and that not everyone is so easily able to become a Buddha. Actually, the Hossou and Kusha sects are known for having very complicated teachings and there is even a phrase: “3 years for Hossou, 8 years for Kusha”.

Kegon-Sect

Kegon, is a sect dedicated to the study of the Avatamsaka Sutras and its main temple is the famous Todaiji. Within the temple, the giant Buddha statue of Vairocana, who is the Resplendent Buddha in the Avatamska, was built in 752 AD. Emperor Shomu also established temples called Kokubunji within the provinces for the spiritual protection of Japan. Todaiji temple was the Kokubunji of the Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) and was also placed as the head of Kokubunji temples in Japan.

In Kegon, there is a phrase: “One equals many and many equals one” They preach to attain the integration of ideas with the polar opposite of those ideas. As you could probably tell by the last sentence, this sect is very philosophical.

Ritsu-Sect

In early 754, a Chinese monk named Jianzhen (688-763 AD), a.k.a Ganjin, traveled to Nara, Japan. He built Toushoudaiji temple in Nara and preached the Ritsu-sect form of Buddhism, which transmits and studies Buddhist Vinaya precepts. Ganjin is said to have conducted Jukai (授戒), which means “the handing down of the precepts”, and this was done to more than 40,000 people.

Overall, the main feature of Nara Buddhism is that it supported the idea of national protection.

Heian Buddhism – Heian-Two-Sects

Emperor Konin (770-781 AD) didn’t like how groups of Buddhists could intervene in governmental affairs, so after his son became Emperor Kanmu (781 – 806 AD), he moved the capital from Heijoukyou to Heiankyou in 794 AD and left the Nara Buddhists in the older capital. Because of that, there was a blank period of religion in Heiankyou and it became an opportunity to foster new types of Buddhism: the Tendai-sect and the Shingon-sect. In 804 AD, 10 years after the naming of the new capital, Saichou, who later founded the Tendai-sect, and Kuukai, who later founded the Shingon-sect, went to China to study as Kentoushi ambassadors. These two sects are called the “Heian-two-sects” (平安二宗/へいあんにしゅう).

Saichou: Tendai-Sect

Saichou founded the Japanese Tendai-sect of Buddhism in Japan. At the age of 19, he received Gusokukai, which is a higher form of ordination at Todaiji temple, and became an official monk. However, just 3 months later, he left for Mt. Hiei, which had been a mountain untouched by man up to this point, and this is where he built a quiet thatched hut that he called Ichijoshikanin temple, which went on to became Enryakuji temple. While there, Saichou made a vow that he wouldn’t climb down the mountain, nor preach to the people, until being purified of the six sources (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) of emotional confusion (joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, and hatred). It ended up taking him 12 years to complete this training in the mountain. This style of training still remains and is practiced in Joudoin temple, the West pagoda on Mt. Hiei.

Saichou’s training and studies were even met with full recognition from the emperor and he was chosen as a priest to study abroad at the age of 35. In China (Tang), he studied Tendai-sect Buddhism for 8 months and after returning to Japan, he founded the Tendai-sect of Japanese Buddhism.

When he started the Japanese Tendai-sect, he began by reevaluating Nara Buddhism and he realized some problems. His three main criticisms were the following:

1. Nara Buddhism was not practical but mainly theoretical and its practice had just become a formality.
2. Nara Buddhism was connected with political powers.
3. In Nara Buddhism, not every person could attain enlightenment and enter Nirvana.

So, Saichou criticized the Six Sects of Nanto Buddhism that had mainly studied doctrines for the protection of the nation. Furthermore, based on the Lotus Sutra, he insisted on sharing the belief of “Issaishujoushitsuubusshou” (一切衆生悉有仏性), which means that everyone has the nature of Buddha within them and can reach Nirvana, whereas Nara Buddhism contended that not everyone is able to do so. In this way, Saichou attempted to disassociate himself from Nara Buddhism, but maintained that if people wanted to become official monks, they still had to receive the precepts in Todaiji temple like Saichou himself did. Then, Saichou made an appeal to the Imperial court of Japan in order to establish the Ordination Hall for Buddhist Confirmation founded on the Tendai-sect form of Buddhism. He explained to the competent authorities that the Tendai-sect could nurture purified Buddhist monks through the training on Mt. Hiei and that doing so would produce the sought after protection for the nation.

Saichou, however, did not live long enough to see this realized, nor was it long after his death that it was realized. An imperial sanction concerning the ordination hall was granted 7 days following Saichou’s death and the Tendai-sect was formally established, both in name and substance, as an independent religious sect. The teachings of Saichou and the “Inextinquishable Dharma Light”, have been passed down to modern day monks at Mt. Hiei.

Saichou’s famous quote can be seen all over Mt. Hiei: “A person who lights up a single corner is truly a national treasure” (from “The Regulations for Students of the Mountain School”).

Saichou explanation of his quote was that “everyone who makes an effort is an all-important national treasure no matter where they are or what their profession”. His teachings contain many elements linked to Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, Zen, and the teachings of the Joudo-sect, and thus Mt.Hiei functioned as a Buddhism university. The Kamakura Buddhism founders that came later, such as Hounen, Shinran, Dougen, and Nichiren, all learned here and eventually set off in search of their own precepts.

*As a side note, Saichou was very strict about drinking alcohol. Someone who drank alcohol was never allowed to be a monk.

Kuukai: Shingon-Sect

Kuukai (774-835 AD), a.k.a. Kouboutaishi, was the founder of the Shingon-sect. He learned the teachings of esoteric Buddhism and all of the secret doctrines from priest Keika in Tang, then came back to Japan and founded the Shingon-sect. In 823, when Emperor Saga granted Touji temple to him, he decided that it would become a dojo for the purpose national protection. Until he passed away in Mt. Koya in 835, he not only propagated but also carried out social welfare projects, such as building a bridge.

The esoteric Buddhism that Kuukai learned had a big impact on the Japanese Buddhist society, the court nobles and other monks who visited him with the desire to learn. Saichou, who had founded the Tendai-sect earlier, was also one of them. Thus, the esoteric Buddhism Kuukai brought back and taught went on to become the main type of Heian Buddhism.

The main concept of the Shingon-sect was ‘Mandala’ (曼荼羅), which is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe. Kuukai brought back two mandalas from China and they became central to Shingon rituals: the Mandala of the Diamond Realm (金剛界曼荼羅), representing Buddha’s wisdom, and the Mandala of the Womb Realm (胎蔵曼荼羅), representing mercy. On each Mandala, many Buddhas are drawn and in the center of each Mandala is Dainichi Nyorai Buddha (Mahavairocana). Dainichi Nyorai is central to Shingon esoteric teachings and has many virtues. Each virtue is assigned roles and appears under various Buddha forms such as Amida Nyorai, Fudou Myouou, or Jizou to save people. Therefore, all the other Buddhas are regarded as representatives of Dainichi Nyorai.

In temples of the Shingon-sect, not only various Buddha forms, but also numerous Gods are worshipped because they believe that there is a great “cosmos” encompassing all religion and thought, with Dainichi Nyorai being its center. The Mandala accurately depicts how the Shingon-sect views the universe and the world’s place in it. In fact, Gods, people, animals and various other creatures take a place beside the Buddhas on the Mandala, which indicates our place in that universe. The Mandala depicts each one of us living separate and different lives, but everything in the world is connected and everyone lives with marvelous fate; ‘Goen (ご縁)’.

Overall, Heian Buddhism was Buddhism for the aristocracy to gain happiness in this world through observance of the Buddhist teachings, whereas Nara Buddhism was for the Imperial Court to protect its nation through the study of Buddhism. Then, it moved on to Kamakura Buddhism which preached salvation to ordinary people.

Kamakura Buddhism

At the end of Heian period, the samurai class started increasing its power while the regency held by nobility declined and the political or financial powers were no longer stable. Along with that, the desire for salvation increased among common people. Furthermore, despotic acts by armed priest, repeated wars, and natural disasters, including epidemics and fires, intensified pessimism and people became more and more open to the possibility of Mappou (末法), which is the end of the World where only Buddha’s teachings remain and where people can never obtain enlightenment. Because of this uncertainty, Kamakura Buddhism was widely accepted by many common people.

After Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura Bakufu (feudal regime) and the era turned into the Kamakura period, the center of politics moved from Kyoto to Kamakura. The region developed and the influential clans in the new samurai class interacted with each other. In response to such social changes, new movements also emerged in the Buddhist society. Its intents were aimed in two main directions:

1. Going back to the origin, or in other words, restoring religious precepts and practicing Zen.
2. Seeking for a new form of Buddhism as well as breaking off relations with old Buddhism.

Under the influence of China (the Sung Dynasty), the first direction initiated the revival of the old Buddhism movement in Nara (Nanto) and succeeded in establishing the Zen-sects in Japan such as the Rinzai and Soutou sects. The second direction also led to the founding of new sects such as Hounen’s Joudo-sect, Shinran’s Joudo-shin-sect, and Nichiren’s Nichiren-sect.

Zen-Sects

Zen-sects encompass the forms of Buddhist teachings through which one can achieve self-enlightenment through meditation and self discipline. In the Kamakura period, the Rinzai-sect and the Soutou-sect were introduced from China one after the other. The lineage of Rinzai-Zen began with Eisai who crossed the sea to China (Sung), was influenced by esoteric Buddhism, brought it back to Japan and then founded the Rinzai-sect.

Just as Hounen had, Eisai came under pressure from the Kamakura Shogunate at first, but he later established a closer relationship with them and ended up getting their support. After Eisai, Dougen traveled to China (Sung) and brought Soutou-Zen back to Japan. He is also known as the writer of the Shobogenzo (正法眼蔵) meaning “The Treasury of the Eye of True Teaching”, in which his profound philosophy is described. Dogen’s Soutou-sect regarded training by itself as a way to implement enlightenment and emphasized the concept of shikantaza (只管打坐), which in Japanese is a term for “zazen” and it means “to do nothing but sit”. On the other hand, Eisai’s Rinzai-sect practiced a method of Zen religious meditation called Kanna-Zen (看話禅/Zen Talks), the practice which attempts to awaken one’s self awareness through the study of a textbook called the Kouan (公案).

There is also another Zen sect called Oubaku which is believed to have begun in 1654 (Edo Period) by Ingen from China. It’s basically an eclectic blend of both the Rinzai and Soutou sects, using both sitting meditation (zazen) along with working with the Koan-textbook as a methodology to break away from conventional analysis.

Jodo-Line Sects

The Jodo-sect was established in the age when Mahayana Buddhism emerged in India. In Japan, the word spread from Mt. Hiei outward and the result was the establishment of Hounen’s Joudo-sect, Shinran’s Joudo-shin-sect, Ryounin’s Yuuzuu-nenbutsu-sect, and Ippen’s Ji-sect. These sects insist that people can’t be saved by conventional self-reliance. Only by praying (Nenbutsu/念仏) to Buddha (南無阿弥陀仏/Namuamidabutsu) while trusting in Tariki (他力), which means Buddha’s power, can they be saved. They aimed at making everyone, including the bad, go to Jodo (translates to ‘Pure Land’—>Nirvana) after death and become a part of Buddha by achieving enlightenment in the world after life, in spite of already having attained enlightenment in the Final Dharma Age, AKA the end of the World.

Nichiren-Sect

The establishment of the Nichiren-sect was the last form of Buddhism to be brought forth out of the Kamakura period. Nichiren Buddhism is believed to have been founded in 1253 and the Kamakura period ended in 1333. In this period, there had been a succession of calamitous events, such as famines and epidemics. Furthermore, a crisis in foreign relations caused by the Mongol invasions of Japan enhanced societal anxiety again. Given such a historical backdrop, Nichiren believed in the Lotus Sutra as suitable teachings for Mappo, the end of the World, and insisted that chanting the Nichiren mantra (南無妙法蓮華経/Namu-Myouhou-renge-kyo) is the right way for a Buddhist to achieve salvation.

Alright, so we’ve just completed a basic lesson in Japanese Buddhism. Was it easy to understand for you? If not, you can be honest like I am about to be. This topic was a little difficult for me and it took me a while to convince myself to tackle this article. In the end, I’m glad I did.

As I mentioned at the beginning, around 85 million people are considered Buddhists in Japan. However, Buddhism does not directly or strongly affect the everyday lives of ordinary Japanese people. Although most funerals are usually carried out in a Buddhist way and many households keep a small house altar in order to pay their respects to their ancestors, more and more people, myself included, are losing interest in Buddhism. This is especially common amongst the younger generations. Believe it or not, there are monks who do things like rap about Buddhism to attract young people to Buddhism. There is even a monk bar which was established for the same purpose. It seems a little strange, but I think it’s pretty cool.

I’m not sure if my monk friend is doing such extraordinary things at the moment, but remember, we are going to explore his real monk-life in the next article and I’m pretty sure you’re ready for it if you read all this!

Bonus Wallpapers!

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To me, Nara is a place that is deer dear to my heart. When I was five, my family moved from Osaka to a rural town in Nara prefecture, and I lived there until my second year of university. Nara is such a beautiful place filled with lots of memories from childhood to the springtime of my life. My parents still live there and so do many of my friends. To say the least, it is a very special place to me.

On August 8, 2013 on the LINE social network, I received a few messages from my younger brother and sister talking about an earthquake in Nara. Yet, I didn’t really care or get worried when I got them because the messages didn’t seem all that serious. Look at their conversations below:

Bro: 奈良県で地震ですか？ Was there an earthquake in Nara?
Sis: 震度一もないらしいよ It seems that it was even less than M1
Bro: おっ Huh？

However, when I went online afterward to learn more about the quake, I found that it was originally reported that a 7.8 earthquake hit in Nara, but turned out to be a false alarm. Thank God, it could have been a scary big earthquake and I wouldn’t have wanted that (of course!). I’m very glad that it was just a big mistake.

Despite being a false alarm, everyone’s mobile phones went off with emergency alerts, some trains and school elevators were stopped and even Yahoo Japan temporarily went off. My Facebook wall was filled with comments about the incident as well. Some people were thankful that it was just a mistake and that it reminded themselves to be ready for a real earthquake in the future. Others just complained about the false alert.

One of the latter was my friend from high school who was hungover when it happened. He was woken up by the alert and tried to save some water in the bathtub before an actual earthquake happened (remember, he was half asleep and hungover). Of course, he turned the tap in the wrong direction and just got drenched in cold shower water. At that point, he was finally awake enough for the earthquake, but it never happened and that made him particularly upset.

The Power Of The Nara Daibutsu

Meanwhile, one absurd conspiracy began rapidly spreading across the Internet: the Nara Daibutsu (the giant Buddha statue in Nara) was responsible for stopping the earthquake! I’m not sure who started saying this but I do have to say it does sound pretty silly. Before looking at some Nara-Daibutsu-believers’ words, let me tell you about the Nara Daibutsu first.

Nara Daibutsu

The Nara Daibutsu is one of three major Buddha statues in Japan and is located in Todai-ji Temple in Nara. It’s officially called Rushana Buddha, and was constructed in 752. Todai-ji temple has been designated a World Heritage Site as well as a national treasure.

I keep saying that it’s a “giant” Buddha statue, but do you want to know how giant it really is?

Height: 49.1 ft
Face: 17.5 ft
Eyes: 3.3 ft each
Ears: 8.3 ft
Weight: 500 tonnes

To put things in perspective, that’s twice the height of the giant in Jack The Giant Killer. Also, if you’re keeping track that’s 6.5 Yao Mings and ~8 Nic Cages. You certainly have to look up to see it.

The Nara Daibutsu is also known for its big lucky nostril. They say that if you go through the Nara Daibutsu’s nostril it will bring you good luck. There is actually an old support pillar with a hole cut exactly the same size as Buddha’s nostril inside Todaiji next to the giant Buddha statue. If you can get through this then you can get through Buddha’s nostril, at least in theory.

How lucky!

The Words Of The Believers

Regardless of whether or not the Nara Daibutsu actually stopped the earthquake, the believers’ words sound so serious that it becomes a bit silly/funny to me, so I have to share them with you all. Here’s some quotes from Twitter:

Earth quake? Yeah, I suppressed it down.

[hr]

An earthquake early warning went out
↓
M7.8 earthquake happened in Nara
↓
Giant Buddha noticed the earthquake
↓
It secretly shot a shock wave to kill the earthquake
↓
Nara people ‘There wasn’t any shake’
↓
Other prefectures people ‘Was it misinformation?’
↓
The proof: the clouds were strange [shaped like Buddha]

[hr]

Nara Daibutsu: “The earthquake happened, but I punched on the ground to offset it

[hr]

An earthquake in Wakayama and noise in the ocean near Mie prefecture → Nara Daibutsu noticed this → Nara Buddha saved…right?

[hr]

I’ve heard that even a Nostradamus book said that only Japan could avoid disaster because of the power of Nara’s Giant Buddha.

[hr]

Giant Buddha: ‘I stopped it after 9 seconds’

[hr]

Nara Giant Buddha SUGEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!(GREAAAAAAAT)!!!!!

[hr]

Giant Buddha Platinum the world

[hr]

Giant Buddha: “An earthquake is coming, right? It’s kind of a wave, right? So if you make a wave towards the opposite direction…like this ‘Ha!’…wait…something was wrong…like this ‘Haaa!!”, yeah, it seems right. Then…yeah…you got it, right?”

Nara people: “That’s amazing and we didn’t know you speak that casually.”

[hr]

Giant Buddha: ‘I stopped the earthquake’
People: ‘Wow, are you God?’
Giant Buddha: ‘No way. I’m just Buddha.’

[hr]

There are more and more quotes, but unfortunately I can’t introduce everything. According to many of them, it seems that the Nara Daibutsu stopped the earthquake by punching into the Earth to make a wave towards the very opposite direction of the earthquake and canceled it out. I’m personally happy to see that so many people are commenting on the power of Nara Daibutsu, which is the symbol of Nara where I grew up! And guess what? I succeeded in interviewing an actual monk in Nara about this Giant Daibutsu rumor!

An Interview With A Nara Monk

This is Yugaku Ikawa (井川裕覚) of Daihisen Tatsunoji Temple (悲山 立野寺) in Yagyu, Nara. He belongs to a Japanese group of Shingon Buddhism called Koyasan Shingon-shu (高野山真言宗). He started off by explaining what Buddhism is like, what kind of religion Shingon-shu is, and then talked about the Nara Daibutsu hypothesis. I translated the interview into English for you to understand.

About Buddhism And Shingon Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion to make yourself Buddha itself by coming in touch with Buddha. Buddha is not in sutra, statues or temples but inside of ourselves.

Shingon Buddhism (真言宗/Shingon-shu) is one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhism lineages, which is called Mikkyō (密教) in Japanese. Mikkyō literally means “secret ways” and was originally started in India, spread to China and then was brought to Japan by a Buddhist monk named Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師) around 1200 years ago. By the time it came all the way to Japan, it adopted various Buddhist and other religions gods’ thoughts and became a more complex and multifaceted system. Mikkyō Monks regard gaining “this-worldly benefits” (現世利益/Genseriyaku) as the most important thing. There are so many practices to do this, including ajikan (阿字観), which is a core meditative practice. Mikkyō Monks try to experience Buddha in themselves throughout those practices and by sympathizing various Buddhas.

About The Nara Daibutsu Hypothesis And Earthquake

This time, the epicenter was reported in Nara which is not typically associated with heavy seismic activity or big disasters, so that added to the puzzlement and also caused the great [Nara Daibutsu] sensation. The Nara Daibutsu (Rushana Buddha) is not only a universe by itself but also of earthly environment, nature and all of our origins. In that kind of meaning, it could be said all the earthly activities including earthquakes are the Daibutsu’s activities as well. I would say that it’s a wonderful result of human beings’ wisdom to prove and elucidate many things scientifically. However, I would also say that it’s very important not to be into only one extreme speculation that “science is the truth” but to realize that we are allowed to live within an earth and universe such as Daibutsu and be thankful for it.

Although I say such serious things, I just find something congenial in Buddha while imagining that it is actually fighting against a plate or an earthquake like an anime character (laughs).

Finally, Japan is said to be an earthquake country, and big ones such as the Great Hanshin earthquake and the Great East Japan earthquake have occurred since I was born. I extend my sincere condolences to all the victims and wish everyone who is still suffering from the earthquake places to relax and settle down. I believe that not only recovering lifelines such as facilities and buildings but also recovering peoples hearts is very important. I wish peaceful minds for as many people as possible. I believe that the true relationships among people makes their zest for living.

[/end interview]

Since there are not any scientific evidences that the Nara Daibutsu defeated the earthquake, the reliability of the hypothesis is questioned. However, why don’t we put scientific and critical opinion aside like the monk said and close our eyes to meditate? Then, repeat the famous false Buddha quote in your mind:

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

Anything could be the truth depending on your own mind, it doesn’t matter whether it’s proven or not. So now, tell me your thoughts on the Nara Daibutsu hypotheses!

Despite my ignorance, there’s something about Japanese architecture that stops me dead in my tracks. I don’t always understand the history, engineering, theory, or artistry behind it all, but I’m always fascinated by Japanese architecture.

If you’ve read Tofugu for a while, you probably already knew that. I’ve written a lot of posts about architecture, mostly as an excuse to post pictures of these really, really cool places.

Tadao Ando’s Hundred Step Garden

Obviously, I’m not the only one who’s in love with Japanese architecture. For hundreds and hundreds of years, Japanese architects have received global recognition for their very distinctive work.

And as recently as just last month, Japan has captured the world’s attention. This year, Japanese architect Toyo Ito was awarded architecture’s greatest prize. Ito the sixth in a line of celebrated Japanese architects to win the Pritzker Prize, more than any other country except for the United States.

Toyo Ito’s Sumika Pavilion

As I heard more and more about Japanese architects and spent hours scrolling through Google image searches, I began to wonder: why are Japanese architects so revered, so distinctive?

What separates the Frank Lloyd Wrights from the Toyo Itos of the world?

The Japanese Aesthetic

The Japanese aesthetic—the qualities that Japanese culture values in art—has always sort of been a mystery for the rest of the world. Westerners usually see it as yet another aspect of the mystical Orient they don’t understand.

In reality though, the Japanese aesthetic makes a lot of sense. A lot of the Japanese aesthetic, like a lot of Japanese culture, has its roots in religion. Shinto and Buddhism are the two biggies in Japan, and once you understand that, it begins to click into place.

Shinto is a set of beliefs that puts a lot of emphasis on nature. Probably the thing that most people know about Shinto is that it believes that spirits, or kami, live in everything. That tree? He’s got a little spirit inside it. Yeah, just like those Miyazaki movies you like so much.

Ito has gotten a lot of attention in recent years in part because of his work on the Sendai Mediatheque, a library in Sendai. Located in the middle of the city that bore the brunt of the 3/11 earthquake, the Mediatheque came away from the disaster practically unscathed.

Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque

The Sendai Mediatheque is essentially a huge glass cube, which makes it look very, very fragile. If you looked at the Mediatheque and imagined one of the largest earthquakes in history hitting it, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the building shattering into pieces.

But the Mediatheque held steady. The structure of the building allowed it to brave the storm; or as one architecture critic put it: “The Mediatheque has these tubular-like things that look like trees, or look like waving grasses in the wind . . . They allowed the building to move with the earthquake and survive.”

Like trees or grass. Ito’s often says that some of his biggest inspirations are in nature — usually air, wind, and water. He doesn’t explicitly talk about Shinto, but it’s not so far-fetched to make that connection.

A lot of other architects use nature much more explicitly in their work. Another Pritzker winner, Ryue Nishizawa, created a very unique house in Tokyo aptly named “Garden & House.”

While the elements of nature aren’t built directly into the structure of Garden & House, all of the flora lining the house make it leaps and bounds more attuned to nature than the concrete and brick buildings surrounding it.

Ryue Nishizawa’s Garden & Home

Again, it’s not that these buildings are explicitly Shinto shrines or anything, although many buildings — like the Tokyo Skytree — are blessed by Shinto clergy. But I think that this fusion of nature and architecture goes to show how deeply ingrained Shinto beliefs are into the Japanese aesthetic.

Zen and the Art of Japanese Architecture

Buddhism too has a role to play in shaping the Japanese aesthetic. A lot of Japanese Buddhist dogma, the kind of things that have made “Zen” a household word around the world, influences Japanese architecture.

Even if you’re not a Buddhist scholar, you’re still probably able to look at something and tell if it’s very “Zen.” You know the look—very spartan, simple, and even empty.

Those elements that are emphasized and valued in some forms Japanese Buddhism are written all over the Japanese aesthetic. They’re especially easy to spot in places like rock gardens and other traditional locales.

Most Japanese rock gardens are raked and arranged to look like water or waves or some sort of movement. But a lot of gardens have just a lot of blank, flat space. Even though the trees and patterns often stand out a lot more, that blankness, that stillness, is just as crucial.

Lots of Japanese architects incorporate these elements in their own work. You’ll see spaces with large, intentionally blank areas. It might look like the architect forgot or overlooked something, but it’s usually deliberate.

I’ve noticed that Pritzker winner Tadao Ando (who I covered a bit here) is a big fan of big, blank spaces. In Ando’s work, you’ll see concrete walls stretching wide lengths and spanning great heights.

Tadao Ando’s Chichu Art Museum

I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the immense amount of concrete used in works like this. I understand where those people are coming from; concrete is a boring, industrial material, and makes you think more of sidewalks than of a rock garden.

But I also understand Ando’s intent. The dull surfaces make the more interesting features stand out and shine, the monotony can actually serve as a feature, rather than a nuisance.

Rejecting the Japanese Aesthetic

Simplicity. Beauty. Naturalism. These are elements of the Japanese aesthetic that you will see define Japanese architecture.

But then there are people who throw all of those concepts out the window, the people who understand the Japanese aesthetic so well that they intentionally choose to work around the fundamental principles that other architects follow so closely.

Somebody who definitely never won the Pritzker was an architect by the name of Arakawa. He and his partner, Madeline Gins, worked as artists and architects for over forty years, creating structures and places that will never, ever be honored by traditional architecture organizations.

Reversible Destiny lofts

You might have already seen one of their projects on TofuguTV — Yoro Park, the Site of Reversible Destiny. When traditional architects create a public park, they consider things like comfort, safety, and beauty.

Yoro Park doesn’t.

Yoro Park is less of a public park and more of an excercise in creating the most outrageous, impractical space imaginable.

For Arakawa and Gins, Yoro Park was only one piece of their lifelong work. More recently, the duo condensed all of the features of Yoro Park into a single house.

Called the Bioscleave House, it cost millions to build, and is as much of a safety hazard as Yoro Park. Children are actually banned from entering the house, and adults must sign a waiver.

Everything in the Bioscleave House is mildly dangerous. The floors are bumpy and irregular, there are poles placed randomly throughout the house, and the whole house is painted in a variety of bright, disorienting colors.

Why all of the danger? A New York Times writer summarized Arakawa and Gin’s philosophy nicely:

All of it is meant to keep the occupants on guard. Comfort, the thinking goes, is a precursor to death; the house is meant to lead its users into a perpetually “tentative” relationship with their surroundings, and thereby keep them young.

Extending your lifespan using dangerous architecture doesn’t quite fit in with the Japanese aesthetic; I don’t know of any Shinto or Buddhist teachings that advocate an adversarial relationship with your surroundings.

But there’s space in Japanese architecture for both of these approaches. Unorthodox styles pushes the medium forward; the Japanese aesthetic anchors practices in tradition.

Both guarantee that Japanese architecture will remain a fascination for me for years to come.

Read More:

• 10 Principles of the Japanese Aesthetic (a list by Japanese architect Ryushi Kojima)
• Wikipedia: Japanese aesthetics

Header image by mario lopez

Well, not for all of us, but for those of us at a particular age, 2013′s going to be a really awful year. The best you can really do is just hunker down and hope that it all goes by quickly.

It’s not because of the fiscal cliff or the release of the next Michael Bay movie; it’s because for some of us, it will be a yakudoshi (厄年), a bad luck year.

What is Yakudoshi?

A lot of Japanese superstitions come from numbers. Virtually every number has an alternate reading, which means that their different readings can give them brand-new meanings. That’s why so many Japanese people are scared of the number four.

That’s also the reason yakudoshi exist. A yakudoshi is when you turn a specific age and are supposed to have nothing but bad luck for that entire year. Those specific ages are partially based on the same kind of numerology that drives other Japanese superstitions.

The Bad Luck Years

Men and women each have three ages that are supposed to be just completely disasterous. They are:

Women

• 19 years old
• 33 years old
• 37 years old

Men

• 25 years old
• 42 years old
• 61 years old

The ages may vary depending on your region and how you like to count age. In different parts of Asia, age is sometimes counted differently than how we normally think in the US — instead of the day of your birth being day zero, some people in East Asia would say that you’re one year old on the day that you’re born.

But why are these particular ages bad luck? Some of them have alternate, bad luck meanings. 42 can be read as “death,” and 33 can be read as “terrible.”

Think that’s bad enough? It only gets worse. Certain years are thought to be extra bad luck (大厄), and some people suspect that the years before (前厄) and after (後厄) yakudoshi are also bad luck, which basically means that you have three straight years of bad luck.

Where does it all end?!

How to Deal with Bad Luck

Let’s say that you just had your birthday and 2013 is looking like a bad year for you. What can you do to avoid certain disaster?

Some people in Japan turn to religious and spiritual rituals from Buddhism and Shinto to avoid the bad luck. They:

• Pray at shrines to appeal to a higher power.
• Donate to temples for some good karma.
• Undergo purification rituals to get rid of the bad luck.
• Carry a shrine at a festival.

Other people are less otherworldly about their precautions. It’s not unheard of to avoid taking out loans to avoid bad luck during your yakudoshi.

Ultimately though, probably the most dangerous thing about yakudoshi is thinking about yakudoshi. Just thinking about all of the bad luck and superstition associated with yakudoshi is likely much worse than any bad luck that you’ll actually have during that year.

But if you make an extra trip to a shrine, I wouldn’t blame you.

Read more: Yakudoshi: The year of calamity

All that being said, of course one of the places I visited for TofuguTV trip was Koyasan. While it’s not weird, crazy, or a mix of the two, I couldn’t just not go here, right? Here’s a short episode all about that that trip, as well as some of the history on Koyasan itself. The Gakuranman was also along for the ride.

Mt. Koya is located in Wakayama Prefecture. Most people access it via the Osaka area. It’s a couple-hour train / cable-car / bus ride to get here, but totally worth it in my book.

View Larger Map

The first person to settle here was the monk known as Kukai (also known as Kobo Daishi). He was the founder of Shingon Buddhism and decided to make this the main headquarters for his religion. Why? Because it was in a 800m high valley amid the lotus shaped terrain of the eight mountain peaks surrounding it. There are currently 120 temples, a pagoda that represents the central point of a Mandala that both covers Koya and Japan, the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, and Japan’s largest graveyard. Oh, and did I mention that it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site? I think it’s deserving.

There are a few reasons why people come here. Maybe you’re visiting a grave. Maybe you’re just here for the scenery. Or, perhaps you’re here to stay the night in some monastery lodging. Most of you will be doing the third one (and if you’re not, I highly recommend it). You will stay in traditional Japanese-style lodging, eat incredible meals (Shojin Ryori style), and possibly even get to participate in one of the temple’s ceremonies.

Fire Ceremony, very early in the morning

Shojin Ryori food (best vegan food you’ll ever eat)

For me, though, it’s all about the graveyard. I’m no ghost hunter or anything, in fact it’s really the opposite. I’ve never been to a graveyard that felt so… good. Like, there’s happiness everywhere. It doesn’t feel like you’re surrounded by the remains of tens of thousands of dead people, that’s for sure.

I think a big part is the discovery of everything, though. A lot of the graveyard is super old. Moss is growing on everything, and many of the tombstones are falling apart. That’s all part of the beauty of it, though. Things are disappearing, changing, and then getting added to again. It’s a nonstop rotation of taking and giving that makes this place so interesting. No matter how many times you go you’ll always discover something new (either because it is new or because you just didn’t notice it before… did I mention this place is huge?).

Don’t forget the Buddhist Deity known as Stitch too… Crazy thing is, he was there the first time I visited Koya (2005) as well as the second time (2010). I was surprised I could find him again, not to mention that he was there at all in the first place.

So, I know a lot of you have been to Koyasan before. What was your favorite part? What would you recommend that people do when they’re there? Even if you’re not into all this nature/Buddhism/graveyard stuff, at least visit the most accessible bathroom in all of Japan…

What is that man doing to that other man????

Check out the official Koya site for more information on visiting and having an awesome time.

You might not know the name Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺), but you’re almost certainly seen pictures of it. It’s the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, a shining temple covered inside and out with gold leaf sitting at the edge of a pond. It’s an incredible sight.

Kinkaku-ji is a UN World Heritage Site, putting it up there with the Pyramids of Giza, the Statue of Liberty, and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. If you have a Mac, you have a picture of Kinkaku-ji on your computer in the default wallpapers.

But what a lot of people don’t know is that the Kinkaku-ji you see today is actually not that old. Kinkaku-ji is only about 60 years old, because 60 years ago, a schizophrenic monk burned down the original structure.

Fact or Fiction?

On July 2 1950, a monk by the name of Hayashi Yoken set fire to Kinkaku-ji, burning it to the ground; that much is indisputable. But over the years, Yoken’s identity and motives have been blurred.

In 1956, author and would-be revolutionary Yukio Mishima published The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, a fictional recounting of the burning of the Golden Temple. The book definitely has a basis in fact (Mishima even visited Yoken in his prison cell), but it’s largely a world of Mishima’s creation.

You’d think that the actual event of Yoken burning down the Temple of the Golden Pavilion would be more famous than the book based on the event, but that’s not the case.

Mishima was an enormous figure in 20^th century Japanese history. He was an author, an intellectual, and a bit of a revolutionary. During his lifetime, he was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Mishima’s death was one of the most dramatic events in Japan. He and his private militia took over a government building where Mishima gave a speech on a balcony, then came inside and ritualistically killed himself.

As if Mishima’s life weren’t enough to eclipse the reality of Yoken and the arson of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Mishima’s life was made into a high-budget film (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters) produced by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola with an original soundtrack by Philip Glass.

It’s hard to escape the fictionalization of events once it’s been scored by Glass’s arpeggios.

What really happened that July day? Who was the man who burned down this incredible temple?

The Real Story

Even though he tried to kill himself after burning down Kinkaku-ji, Hayashi Yoken was completely unapologetic about the arson. In a police interview, Yoken said “. . . I do not believe that I have done anything wrong. It is said that a national treasure has been burned, but that seems more or less meaningless”

There are lots of theories why he did it.

The big motivator in Mishima’s book was that the monk thought that Kinkaku-ji was too beautiful, and it seems that Yoken did really think that. Yoken definitely wouldn’t be the first person to destroy something because of its beauty.

Some say that Yoken had low self-worth, and burned the temple as a way of lashing out. Since he was a child, he had a massive stuttering problem that plagued him throughout his life. At his trial, Yoken confessed “I hate myself, my evil, ugly, stammering self.”

Others (like Japanologist god Donald Keene) say that Yoken did it because he thought that Buddhism had become too commercialized. Kinkaku-ji was and still is a huge tourist attraction, and takes in a ton of tax-exempt money from it. Zen master Sawaki asked “For what purpose were Kinkakuji . . . and all of the other old temples built? Certainly not for monks to practice Buddhism there.”

But pretty much everybody agreed he was mentally ill. The courts diagnosed Yoken with every ailment from schizophrenia to extreme paranoia to dementia.

The exact reason why Yoken burned down Kinkaku-ji will probably never fully be known, and a lot of people in Japan would rather forget about the whole thing and move on. But if you ever get the chance to visit Kinkaku-ji, take a second to think about that young man who set the world ablaze.