Social Action and Personal Benefits in Contemporary Japanese Buddhism

Abstract

This article seeks to examine some aspects of the relationship between Buddhism and social action in Japan and in particular to comment on some of the activities of priests and Buddhist temples in contemporary Japan that can, I will suggest, be interpreted through the lens of social action. First, I outline some observations about the nature of established Buddhism in Japan and its connection with social issues and action, both in historical terms and in the present. I then go on to look at some roles that Buddhism plays that, while perhaps not normally discussed in the context of social action, provide ordinary people a means with which to confront and deal with social problems and issues of social concern. I look particularly at a social issue that is increasingly important in contemporary Japan, that of aging and senility, and at the growing religious cult known as boke fuji (prevention of senility) that has developed in popular Buddhism as a response to these problems. In this cult, which has been strongly promoted by many temples as well as by some commercial companies that make the Buddha statues that are the visual focus of prayer in the cult, people pray (usually to Kannon or JizO) for salvation from such afflictions, seeking Kannon or Jizo's grace so that they may die before losing their human dignity, succumbing, for example, to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia. Although as it has developed the cult may be considered to be a religious response to a serious and as yet unsolved social problem, it also raises serious questions about the potentially exploitative nature of religions when they seek to deal with matters of personal suffering and of its promised amelioration. Thus, in examining some issues concerned with the religious parameters of social action, I look at common Japanese Buddhist practices such as the performance of rituals and the incantation of prayers, spells, amulets, and the like, practices aimed at personal amelioration (a theme that can be included under the general Japanese religious heading of genze riyaku) and relief from personal worries, troubles, and afflictions (a context that could also include the widespread Buddhist practice of mizuko kuy6, performing memorial services for aborted fetuses),