1.
Japanese pagoda
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Pagodas in Japan are called tō, sometimes buttō or tōba and historically derive from the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian stupa. Like the stupa, pagodas were originally used as reliquaries but in many cases ended up losing this function. The famous Itsukushima Shrine, for example, has one, after the Meiji Restoration the word tō, once used exclusively in a religious context, came to mean also tower in the western sense, as for example in Eiffel tower. Of the Japanese pagodas many forms, some are built in wood and are known as mokutō. Wood pagodas are large buildings with two stories or an odd number of stories. Extant wood pagodas with more than two storeys have almost always either three storeys or five (and are called gojū-no-tō, stone pagodas are nearly always small, usually well below 3 metres, and as a rule offer no usable space. If they have more than one storey, pagodas are called tasōtō or tajūtō, a pagodas size is measured in ken, where a ken is the interval between two pillars of a traditional-style building. A tahōtō for example can be either 5x5 ken or 3x3 ken, the word is usually translated in English as bay and is better understood as an indication of proportions than as a unit of measurement. The stupa was originally a simple mound containing the Buddhas ashes which in time more elaborate. After reaching China, the stupa met the Chinese watchtower and evolved into the pagoda and its use then spread to Korea and, from there, to Japan. Following its arrival in Japan together with Buddhism in the 6th century, in Japan it evolved in shape, size and function, finally losing its original role as a reliquary. It also became common, while on the Asian continent it is rare. With the birth of new sects in later centuries, the pagoda lost importance and was relegated to the margins of the garan. Temples of the Jōdo sects rarely have a pagoda, during the Kamakura period the Zen sect arrived in Japan and their temples do not normally include a pagoda. Pagodas originally were reliquaries and did not contain sacred images, but in Japan many, for example Hōryū-jis five-storied pagoda, in that room are enshrined statues of the temples main objects of worship. Inside Shingon pagodas there can be paintings of deities called Shingon Hasso, on the ceiling and on the shaft there can be decorations. The edge of a pagodas eaves forms a line, with each following edge being shorter than the other. The more difference in length between stories, the solid and secure the pagoda seems to be
2.
Meiji period
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The Meiji period, also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from October 23,1868 through July 30,1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan during which Japanese society moved from being a feudal society to its modern form. Fundamental changes affected its structure, internal politics, economy, military. The period corresponded with the reign of Emperor Meiji after 1868 and it was succeeded by the Taishō period upon the accession of Emperor Taishō to the throne. On February 3,1867, the 14-year-old Prince Mutsuhito succeeded his father, Emperor Kōmei, on November 9,1867, then-Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor, and formally stepped down ten days later. Imperial restoration occurred the year on January 3,1868. The fall of Edo in the summer of 1868 marked the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, and a new era, Meiji, was proclaimed. The first reform was the promulgation of the Five Charter Oath in 1868, implicit in the Charter Oath was an end to exclusive political rule by the bakufu, and a move toward more democratic participation in government. To implement the Charter Oath, a rather short-lived constitution with eleven articles was drawn up in June 1868, the Meiji government assured the foreign powers that it would follow the old treaties negotiated by the bakufu and announced that it would act in accordance with international law. Mutsuhito, who was to reign until 1912, selected a new reign title—Meiji, to further dramatize the new order, the capital was relocated from Kyoto, where it had been situated since 794, to Tokyo, the new name for Edo. Confirmed in their positions, the daimyo became governors. The han were replaced with prefectures in 1871, and authority continued to flow to the national government, officials from the favored former han, such as Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen staffed the new ministries. Formerly old court nobles, and lower-ranking but more radical samurai, replaced bakufu appointees, in as much as the Meiji Restoration had sought to return the Emperor to a preeminent position, efforts were made to establish a Shinto-oriented state much like it was 1,000 years earlier. Furthermore, a new State Shinto had to be constructed for the purpose, in 1871, the Office of Shinto Worship was established, ranking even above the Council of State in importance. The kokutai ideas of the Mito school were embraced, and the ancestry of the Imperial House was emphasized. The government supported Shinto teachers, a small but important move, although the Office of Shinto Worship was demoted in 1872, by 1877 the Home Ministry controlled all Shinto shrines and certain Shinto sects were given state recognition. Shinto was released from Buddhist administration and its properties restored, although Buddhism suffered from state sponsorship of Shinto, it had its own resurgence. Christianity also was legalized, and Confucianism remained an important ethical doctrine, increasingly, however, Japanese thinkers identified with Western ideology and methods
3.
Buddhist temples in Japan
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Buddhist temples are, together with Shinto shrines, considered to be among the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan. The Japanese word for a Buddhist temple is tera, and the same kanji also has the pronunciation ji, another ending, -in, is normally used to refer to minor temples. Such famous temples as Kiyomizu-dera, Enryaku-ji, and Kōtoku-in illustrate this naming pattern, in Japan, Buddhist temples co-exist with Shinto shrines, and both share the basic features of Japanese traditional architecture. Some shrines, for example Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, have a Buddhist-style main gate called sōmon, many temples have a temizuya and komainu, like a shrine. Conversely, some make use of incense or have a shōrō belltower. Others – for example, Tanzan Jinja in Nara – may even have a pagoda, similarities between temples and shrines are also functional. Like a shrine, a Buddhist temple is not primarily a place of worship, its most important buildings are used for the safekeeping of sacred objects, unlike a Christian church, a temple is also a monastery. There are specialized buildings for certain rites, but these are open only to a limited number of participants. Religious mass gatherings do not take place with regularity as with Christian religions, if many people are involved in a ceremony, it will assume a festive character and will be held outdoors. The reason for the structural resemblances between the two lies in their common history. It is in fact normal for a temple to have also a shrine. Shrines enshrining local kami existed long before the arrival of Buddhism, with the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 6th century, shrines were subjected to its influence and adopted both the concept of permanent structures and the architecture of Buddhist temples. The successive development of shinbutsu-shūgō and of the honji suijaku theory brought to the almost complete fusion of kami worship and it became normal for shrines to be accompanied by temples in mixed complexes called jingū-ji or miyadera. The opposite was also common, most temples had at least a shrine dedicated to its tutelary kami. As a consequence, for centuries shrines and temples had a relationship where each influenced the other. The clear separation between Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which today is the norm, emerges only as a result of the shinbutsu bunri law of 1868. This separation was mandated by law, and many shrine-temples were forced to become just shrines, among them famous ones like Usa Hachiman-gū and Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. For example, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gūs giant Niō, being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were sold to Jufuku-ji, the shrine-temple also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its tahōtō, its midō, and its shichidō garan
4.
Shinto shrine
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A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house one or more Shinto kami. Its most important building is used for the safekeeping of sacred objects, structurally, a Shinto shrine is usually characterized by the presence of a honden or sanctuary, where the kami is enshrined. The honden may however be completely absent, as for example when the stands on a sacred mountain to which it is dedicated. There may be a haiden and other structures as well, however, a shrines most important building is used for the safekeeping of sacred objects rather than for worship. Miniature shrines can occasionally be found on roadsides, large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines. The portable shrines which are carried on poles during festivals enshrine kami and are therefore true shrines. in 927 CE and this work listed all of the 2,861 Shinto shrines existing at the time, and the 3,131 official-recognized and enshrined Kami. Certainly, that number has grown and greatly exceeded this figure through the following generations, in Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan placed the number of shrines at 79,467, mostly affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines. Some shrines, such as the Yasukuni Shrine are totally independent of any outside authority, the number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000. This figure may, or may not, include private shrines in homes and owned by groups, abandoned or derelict shrines. Ancestors are kami to be worshiped, yayoi-period village councils sought the advice of ancestors and other kami, and developed instruments to evoke them. Yoshishiro means approach substitute and were conceived to attract the kami to allow them physical space, village-council sessions were held in quiet spots in the mountains or in forests near great trees or other natural objects that served as yorishiro. These sacred places and their yorishiro gradually evolved into todays shrines, whose origins can be seen in the Japanese words for mountain and forest. Many shrines have on their grounds one of the original great yorishiro, the first buildings at places dedicated to worship were surely huts built to house some yorishiro. A trace of this origin can be found in the term hokura, deity storehouse, which evolved into hokora, true shrines arose with the beginning of agriculture, when the need arose to attract kami to ensure good harvests. These were, however, just temporary structures built for a particular purpose, Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara, for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands. Those images or objects are therefore unnecessary, for the same reason, it has a worship hall but no place to house the kami. Archeology confirms that, during the Yayoi period, the most common shintai in the earliest shrines were nearby mountain peaks that supplied water to the plains where people lived. Besides the already mentioned Ōmiwa Shrine, another important example is Mount Nantai, significantly, the name Nantai means mans body
5.
Buddhism in Japan
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Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since its official introduction in 552 AD according to the Nihon Shoki from Baekje, Korea by Buddhist monks. Though some Chinese sources place the first spreading of the religion earlier during the Kofun period, Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day. In modern times, Japans most popular schools of Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism, as of 2008 approximately 34% of the Japanese identify as Buddhists and the number has been growing since the 1980s. In 2009, a survey showed that over half the Japanese families had a butsudan or Buddhist altar in their homes. In 2009 data from the Agency of Cultural Affairs stated that there were 89 million Buddhists in Japan, in 2011, after the Tsunami, it was reported that 90% of the Japanese identified as Buddhist or Shinto or a combination of both. In 2013, official said there were over 87 million Buddhists in Japan. The arrival of Buddhism in Japan is ultimately a consequence of the first contacts between China and Central Asia, where Buddhism had spread from the Indian subcontinent. These contacts occurred with the opening of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC and these contacts culminated with the official introduction of Buddhism in China in 67 CE. Historians generally agree that by the middle of the 1st century, according to the Book of Liang, which was written in 635, five Buddhist monks from Gandhara traveled to Japan in 467. In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion and they propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result the customs of Fusang changed, the powerful Soga clan played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country. Initial uptake of the new faith was slow, and Buddhism only started to spread some years later when Empress Suiko openly encouraged the acceptance of Buddhism among all Japanese people. On January 15,593, Soga no Umako ordered relics of Buddha deposited inside the stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Asuka-dera. In 607, in order to obtain copies of sutras, an envoy was dispatched to Sui China. As time progressed and the number of Buddhist clergy increased, the offices of Sōjō, by 627, there were 46 Buddhist temples,816 Buddhist priests, and 569 Buddhist nuns in Japan. These were not exclusive schools, and temples were apt to have scholars versed in several of the schools and it has been suggested that they can best be thought of as study groups. This kind of Buddhism had little to offer the illiterate and uneducated masses and their practice was a combination of Buddhist and Daoist elements and the incorporation of shamanistic features of indigenous practices. Some of these figures became popular, and were a source of criticism towards the sophisticated academic and bureaucratic Buddhism of the capital
6.
Seiganto-ji
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Seiganto-ji, Temple of the Blue Waves, is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2004, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with locations, under the name Sacred Sites. According to a legend, it was founded by the priest Ragyō Shōnin, the temple was purposely built near Nachi Falls, where it may have previously been a site of nature worship. It is Kansai Kannon Pilgrimages No.1 and an Important Cultural Properties of Japan, after practicing shugyō, Kannon appeared to him at the base of the waterfall and so he built a hermitage dedicated to Kannon in this place. During the reign of Empress Suiko, Shōbutsu Shōnin came here from Yamato in order to undergo austerity practices, at that time he carved a 4 meter high image of Nyoirin Kannon from a single piece of camellia tree. The Hondō was built to enshrine this image became the focus of the Nachi Kannon cult and is the image that is enshrined in the present Nyorindō. In 988 Emperor Kazan visited the Kumano area on his first pilgrimage and, being moved by the image of Kannon. It is said that Emperor Kazan completed 1000 days of spiritual training under the waterfall. The kami instructed the emperor to find the priest Butsugan of Hasedera, Emperor Kazan wrote all the goeika poems that are still used throughout the pilgrimage as sacred hymns. It became a custom in later years for other emperors who went on pilgrimage to also compose poems of their own for each of the sacred sites. Because Emperor Gotoba made the pilgrimage to Kumano 31 times and his successor Emperor Go-Shirakawa made it 34 times, the pilgrimage became popular during this era. However, members of court had been coming here for about 400 years prior to this, the temple buildings, like many of the temples on the pilgrimage route, were burned to the ground by Oda Nobunaga during the civil wars of the 16th century. The Nyorindō was rebuilt in 1587 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Imperial Regent who unified Japan after the wars and it is typical of Momoyama Era style of architecture with a shingled distinctive roof called irimoya. The Nyorindō is heritage listed as a nationally Important Cultural Property, because of this, Seigantoji was formally abolished, the priests stripped of their authority and no funding was given to the temple. At that time Seigantoji had three main temples as well as 37 residential and training building, but all that remained after the Meiji Restoration was the Nyorindō and the abbot’s quarters. However, gradually over the century it was slowly rebuilt due to its position as an important part of the Kumano-Nachi syncretic mountain veneration religion of Shugendō. In 1918, a Sutra mound was excavated at the base of the waterfall and found to contain many important archaeological artifacts, including statues, mirrors, altar fittings and these are now displayed in the Ryuhoden, located next to the Pagoda
7.
Tendai
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Tendai is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. David W. Philosophically, the Tendai school did not deviate substantially from the beliefs that had created by the Tiantai school in China. However, what Saichō transmitted from China was not exclusively Tiantai, but also included Zen, the esoteric Mikkyō, the tendency to include a range of teachings became more marked in the doctrines of Saichōs successors, such as Ennin and Enchin. However, in years, this range of teachings began to form sub-schools within Tendai Buddhism. By the time of Ryōgen, there were two groups on Mt. Hiei, the Sammon Mountain Group who followed Ennin and the Jimon Temple Group who followed Enchin. The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the Imperial House, in 794, the Imperial capital was moved to Kyoto. Tendai Buddhism became the dominant form of mainstream Buddhism in Japan for many years, nichiren, Hōnen, Shinran and Dōgen—all famous thinkers in non-Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism—were all initially trained as Tendai monks. Japanese Buddhism was dominated by the Tendai school to a greater degree than Chinese Buddhism was by its forebearer. Due to its patronage and growing popularity among the classes, the Tendai sect became not only respected. Enryaku-ji, the complex on Mt. Hiei, became a sprawling center of power, attended not only by ascetic monks. As a result, in 1571 Enryaku-ji was razed by Oda Nobunaga as part of his campaign to unify Japan, Nobunaga regarded the Mt. Hiei monks as a potential threat or rival, as they could employ religious claims to attempt to rally the populace to their side. The temple complex was rebuilt, and continues to serve as the head temple of the Tendai school today. Chih-i, founder of Tien-tai philosophy and practice attempted this synthesis on the basis of the doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. Tendai Buddhism has several philosophical insights which allow for the reconciliation of Buddhist doctrine with aspects of Japanese culture such as Shinto and it is rooted in the idea, fundamental to Mahayana Buddhism, that Buddha-hood, the capability to attain enlightenment, is intrinsic in all things. Also central to Mahayana is the notion that the phenomenal world and this notion poses the problem of how we come to have many differentiated experiences. Tendai Buddhism claims that each and every sense phenomenon just as it is is the expression of Dharma, for Tendai, the ultimate expression of Dharma is the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the nature of all sense experiences consists in the Buddhas preaching of the doctrine of Lotus Sutra. The existence and experience of all unenlightened beings is fundamentally equivalent, more specifically, Shimaji used original enlightenment thought to designate the intellectual mainstream of medieval Japanese Tendai Buddhism
8.
Buddhahood
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In Buddhism, buddhahood is the condition or rank of a buddha. The goal of Mahayanas Bodhisattva path is Samyaksambuddhahood, so one may benefit all sentient beings by teaching them the path of cessation of dukkha. This contrasts with the goal of Hinayana path, where the goal is Arhatship, in Theravada Buddhism, Buddha refers to one who has become awakened through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out the Dharma. A samyak sambuddha teaches the dharma to others after his awakening, a pratyeka-buddha also reaches Nirvana through his own efforts, but does not teach the dharma to others. An Arhat needs to follow the teaching of a Buddha to attain Nirvana, in this broader sense it is equivalent to Arahant. Buddhahood is the state of an enlightened being, who having found the path of cessation of suffering, is in the state of No-more-Learning. There is a spectrum of opinion on the universality and method of attainment of Buddhahood. The level to which this manifestation requires ascetic practices varies from none at all to a requirement, dependent on doctrine. Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal instead of the Arhat, the Tathagatagarba and Buddha-nature doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism consider Buddhahood to be a universal and innate property of absolute wisdom. This wisdom is revealed in a current lifetime through Buddhist practice. Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha, the Pali Canon refers to many previous ones, while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial origin. A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya, the various Buddhist schools hold some varying interpretations on the nature of Buddha. All Buddhist traditions hold that a Buddha is fully awakened and has completely purified his mind of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance, a Buddha is no longer bound by Samsara, and has ended the suffering which unawakened people experience in life. Most schools of Buddhism have also held that the Buddha was omniscient, however, the early texts contain explicit repudiations of making this claim of the Buddha. Some Buddhists meditate on the Buddha as having ten characteristics, in the Madhupindika Sutta, Buddha is described in powerful terms as the Lord of the Dhamma and the bestower of immortality. Similarly, in the Anuradha Sutta Buddha is described as the Tathagata—the supreme man, actually, the Buddha was a human being, not a mere human being as is sometimes said but a special class of human called a complete person. Such complete persons are no different from others and indeed they physically remain quite ordinary. Sangharakshita also states that The first thing we have to understand -, but a special kind of human being, in fact the highest kind, so far as we know
9.
Nara period
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The Nara period of the history of Japan covers the years from AD710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō, most of Japanese society during this period was agricultural in nature and centered on villages. Most of the villagers followed a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits called kami, the capital at Nara was modeled after Changan, the capital city of Tang China. In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting Chinese written system, fashion, concentrated efforts by the imperial court to record and document its history produced the first works of Japanese literature during the Nara period. Works such as the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki were political in nature, used to record and therefore justify, with the spread of written language, the writing of Japanese poetry, known in Japanese as waka, began. Over time, personal collections were referenced to establish the first large collection of Japanese poetry known as Manyōshū sometime after 759, Chinese characters were used to express sounds of Japanese until kana were invented. The Chinese characters used to express the sounds of Japanese are known as manyōgana, before the Taihō Code was established, the capital was customarily moved after the death of an emperor because of the ancient belief that a place of death was polluted. Reforms and bureaucratization of government led to the establishment of a permanent imperial capital at Heijō-kyō, or Nara, in AD710. It is to be noted that the capital was moved shortly to Kuni-kyō in 740–744, to Naniwa-kyō in 744–745, to Shigarakinomiya in 745, Nara was Japans first truly urban center. It soon had a population of 200,000 and some 10,000 people worked in government jobs, economic and administrative activity increased during the Nara period. Roads linked Nara to provincial capitals, and taxes were collected more efficiently and routinely, coins were minted, if not widely used. Outside the Nara area, however, there was little commercial activity, by the mid-eighth century, shōen, one of the most important economic institutions in medieval Japan, began to rise as a result of the search for a more manageable form of landholding. Some of these formerly public people were employed by large landholders. Factional fighting at the court continued throughout the Nara period. Imperial family members, leading families, such as the Fujiwara. Earlier this period, Prince Nagaya seized power at the court after the death of Fujiwara no Fuhito, Fuhito was succeeded by four sons, Muchimaro, Umakai, Fusasaki, and Maro. They put Emperor Shōmu, the prince by Fuhitos daughter, on the throne, in 729, they arrested Nagaya and regained control. However, as the first outbreak of smallpox spread from Kyūshū in 735 and it is without doubt that the Emperor was heavily shocked about this disaster, and he moved the palace three times in only five years since 740, until he eventually returned to Nara
10.
Ibaraki Prefecture
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Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province, in 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki. It also has a border on the southwest with Saitama Prefecture, the northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes. As of 1 April 2012, 15% of the land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name, as of March 2011, the prefecture produced 25% of Japans bell peppers and Chinese cabbage. Ibarakis population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out, Ibaraki is known for nattō, or fermented soybeans, in Mito, watermelons in Kyōwa, and chestnuts in the Nishiibaraki region. Ibaraki is famous for the art of Aikido founded by Ueshiba Morihei. Ueshiba spent the part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama. There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, Kasama is famous for Shinto, art culture and pottery. The capital Mito is home to Kairakuen, one of Japans three most celebrated gardens, and famous for its over 3,000 Japanese plum trees of over 100 varieties, however, the correct pronunciation is Ibaraki. According to the author of Not Ibaragi, Ibaraki, this is most likely due to a mishearing of the softening of the k sound in Ibaraki dialect. Official Ibaraki Prefecture homepage The E-Ibaraki Report, articles and commentary of foreigners living in Ibaraki, produced by the International Affairs Division, Ibaraki Prefecture Ibaraki Japan
