Zen No More

choi

Justin McCurry, Zen No More; Japan shuns its Buddhist traditions as temples close. Guardian, Nov 6, 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/world ... ns-as-temples-close

Quote:

"In a report released last year, the Japan Policy Council 日本創成会議 [an NGO founded in 2011 following tsunami that year] warned that if the exodus, particularly among young women, from rural areas continues at the current rate, almost half of Japan’s municipalities will disappear by 2040, along with their places of religious worship.

"The crisis facing Japanese Buddhism isn’t a simple matter of demographics. In the early 1700s, Japan’s population stood at around 30 million – almost 100 million fewer than today – yet there were 46,000 temples [presently: 77,000 temples in Japan].

"More than 12,000 Japanese temples have no resident priest 無住寺院, according to a recent survey by the Asahi Shimbun, as the pool of young people interested in the priesthood continues to dwindle.

Note:
(a) photo caption: "A row of Jizo statues at the entrance of Kaigenji temple. Kaigenji is a 300-year-old Buddhist temple in Chikuma, Nagano prefecture, Japan."
(i) Chikuma, Nagano prefecture  長野県 千曲市
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikuma,_Nagano
(Chikuma City is located in the valley of the Chikuma River, south of Nagano City)
(A) Nagano prefecture was host to the 1998 Winter Olympics. Its capital is City of Nagano 長野市.
(B) Chikuma = 千曲
(C) City of Chikuma was named after Chikuma River 千曲川. The latter is the name of the river within Nagano prefecture; downstream -- it flows north-- within Niigata prefecture 新潟県 is called by another name: Shinanogawa 信濃川.
(D) With (C) in mind, it is easy to undrstand why 曲 is pronounced "kuma."  You see, "chi" and "kuma" are Japanese pronunciations of kanji 千 and 曲, respectively.
(E) In Japanese, 曲 has two pronunciations: Chinese pronunciation "kyoku" (meaning "song, tune") and Japanese pronunciation "kuma" (for meaning, see (c)).  Take notice in Chinese, 曲 also has several meanings, but is pronounced the same.
(ii) Shinano Province  信濃国
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinano_Province
( is now present day Nagano Prefecture)
(iii) 千曲市・開眼寺公式ホームページ  (translation: official home page of * * *)
http://www016.upp.so-net.ne.jp/bunkei_kaigenji/
(臨済宗)

(b) "Kaigenji * * * head priest 住職, Bunkei SHIBATA 柴田 文啓"
(i)
(A) 臨済宗  Rinzaishū
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%A8%E6%B8%88%E5%AE%97
(臨済宗は、中国の禅宗五家（臨済、潙仰、曹洞、雲門、法眼）の1つで、日本においては禅宗（臨済宗・曹洞宗・日本達磨宗・黄檗宗・普化宗）の1つである。 * * * 唐の臨済義玄（? - 867年）によって創宗された)

Rinzai school is one of five Zen schools in China (臨済、潙仰、曹洞、雲門、法眼) and also one of five Zen schools in Japan (臨済宗・曹洞宗・日本達磨宗・黄檗宗・普化宗). * * * founded by [Chinese] 臨済 義玄 of Tang dynasty)
(B) Rinzai school  臨済宗
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinzai_school


(c) Japanese English dictionary:
* jizō 地蔵 【じぞう】 (n): "(abbr[eviation from] 地蔵菩薩) Ksitigarbha (bodhisattva who looks over children, travellers and the underworld)"
* kuma 隈; 曲; 阿 【くま】 (n): "corner; nook; recess"
* jū-shoku 住職 【じゅうしょく】 (n): "chief priest (of a Buddhist temple)"
* shiba 柴 【しば】 (n): "brushwood; firewood"
* u 鵜 【う】 (n): "cormorant (Phalacrocoracidae spp)"
* sō-shiki butsu-kyō 葬式仏教 【そうしきぶっきょう】 (n): "funeral Buddhism; (reliance on) Buddhism only for funerals"
  ^ sō-shiki 葬式 【そうしき】 (n): "funeral"

(d) "Hidenori UKAI 鵜飼 秀徳, a journalist and depute head priest 副住職 of Shogakuji temple in Kyoto. * * * Ukai, author of Vanishing Temples: the Loss of Rural Areas and Religion 寺院消滅 ‐失われる「地方」と「宗教」 [2015]. * * * Ukai, who, like many priests, decided to pursue a second career 第二の人生 [ie, he changed career mid-life to become a priest]."

正覚寺  (pronounced shō-kaku-ji or shō-gaku-ji)
(e) "Some priests are attempting to reverse the decline and challenge the 'funeral Buddhism 葬式仏教' image by opening temple cafes, supporting volunteer activities and hosting music and theatre productions."

See (c).

(f) Regarding quotation 2. The Guardian report neglects to mention hai-butsu ki-shaku  廃仏毀釈
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibutsu_kishaku
(section 2: Haibutsu kishaku during the Meiji Restoration)

(g) "the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult"
(i) Aum Shinrikyo  オウム真理教 (The オウム is katakana that is pronounced as "o-u-m.")
(ii) Om
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om
(or Aum; Sanskri; "is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism")