THE FAITH OF JAPAN 
 
 BY 
 
 TASUKU HARADA, LL.D. 
 
 Professor, Oniversity of Hawaii 
 
 AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE MEN’S CLASS 
 OF 
 
 CENTRAL UNION CHURCH 
 
 HONOLULU 
 
 Printed by request 
 for private circulation 
 1925 
 
 Copies may be obtained on request made to 
 Central Union Church, Honolulu. 
 
THE FAITH OF JAPAN 
 
 Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism are 
 three forms of religion which have thrived 
 side by side in Japan for more than four- 
 teen centuries. They have given the Jap- 
 anese the elements of faith that have 
 characterized the life of the nation. With 
 an exception of a comparatively small 
 number of Christians and agnostics, the 
 latter rapidly growing in number, the whole 
 people are nominally followers of the triple 
 faith. Strange though it may seem, many 
 of them believe in three religions without 
 being conscious of conflicts that exist be- 
 tween one religion and another. One may 
 consecrate a baby at its birth according 
 to Shinto, he may follow the Buddhist 
 ceremony in the burial, while for the con- 
 duct of daily life he may be a faithful 
 pupil of Confucius. But each of these 
 religions is radically different from the 
 others in its origin, history, ideal, practice 
 and what not. 
 
 The Indigenous Faith 
 
 Shinto is the only indigenous faith of 
 ^Japan. It has neither founder nor dogma, 
 neither a creed nor system. Its name, 
 "‘the way of the God,” was applied to a 
 group of certain undefined beliefs, in 
 order to distinguish it from other religions. 
 It was at first a nature worship to which 
 was later added the worship of deified men. 
 Kami is the Japanese word for deity. “The 
 term Kami is applied in the first place to 
 the various deities of heaven and earth who 
 are mentioned in the ancient records, as 
 well as to their spirits which reside in the 
 shrines where they are worshipped. More- 
 
 2 
 
over, not only human beings, but birds and 
 beasts, plants and trees, seas and moun- 
 tains, and all other things whatsoever which 
 deserve to be dreaded and revered for the 
 extraordinary and pre-eminent powers which 
 they possess, are called Kami.” There 
 have been added from time to time various 
 new deities so that the number was stated 
 as “eight hundred myriads,” and the coun- 
 try was called “the Land of Gods.” 
 
 The Shinto shrines are usually of very 
 simple structure, always to be recognized 
 by a peculiarly shaped gate called torii, 
 formed of two upright and two horizontal 
 beams. 
 
 There are at present 113,000 shrines, 
 large and small, in the whole empire. When 
 we compare it with the number in 1904, 
 which was 190,000, it shows the decline 
 of 77,000 in two decades. It is said the 
 largest number of reductions in one year 
 was more than 1 5,000, showing the wane 
 of the primitive faith. But it is also in- 
 teresting to learn that since the great earth- 
 catastrophe of two years ago a reaction 
 came, showing a slight increase rather 
 than a decrease. It indicates an abiding 
 power of the old belief among the mass 
 of the people in spite of the rapid progress 
 of modern education. 
 
 Oldest Records of Japan 
 
 The “Kojiki” (records of ancient things) 
 and the “Nihongi” (Chronicle of Japan), 
 ancient histories of Japan, the former com- 
 pleted in 712 A. D., and the latter in 720, 
 are regarded by Shintoists as their sacred 
 books. They contain myths, legends and 
 
 3 
 
the earliest history of the people. There 
 are also prayers in archaic style, called 
 Norito, orally brought down from the pre- 
 historic period. Shinto being inseparable 
 from national life, naturally associates with 
 itself the sense of loyality and patriotism. 
 Except during certain limited periods, it 
 has been the religion of the Imperial family 
 from the beginning to the present day. 
 This fact largely explains the secret of its 
 strength. 
 
 It should be noted that the term Shinto 
 includes two distinct aspects: State Shinto 
 and popular Shinto. State Shinto has been 
 officially declared to be not a religion, but 
 merely a deep veneration of the Imperial 
 ancestors and festivities and rites in memory 
 of national heroes. These rites are under 
 the control of the government Bureau of 
 Shrines. Popular Shinto is divided into 
 thirteen principal sects, some of which are 
 further subdivided. These sects have noth- 
 ing to do with the Bureau of Shrines, but 
 are supervised like other religious organiza- 
 tions by the Bureau of Religions. 
 
 A Significant Fact About Shinto 
 
 A significant fact about Shinto is the 
 absence of all tendency to objectify the 
 deity in visible form. The use of images 
 and idols is not indigenous to Japan, for 
 one characteristic of pure Shinto is the 
 absence of all figures. A mirror is usually 
 placed in the holy place within the shrine. 
 Such sacred mirrors are not strictly objects 
 of worship, but are ‘‘typical of the human 
 heart which in its purity reflects the image 
 of Deity:” and faithful followers of Shinto 
 are instructed to bow before the mirror of 
 
 4 
 
the shrine in the act of self-examination. 
 Image-making dates from the coming of 
 Buddhism; and the influence of Buddhism 
 in this particular is to be noted even upon 
 Shinto, for gradually a mutual adaptation 
 took place and various images came to be 
 placed in Shinto shrines. The custom of 
 keeping the family tablet of ancestors was 
 also introduced with Buddhism from China. 
 
 Similarly noticeable is the absence of 
 any attempt to define the character or at- 
 tributes of Kami. The Japanese mind in 
 all ages has been quite content without 
 definite conceptions of Kami. The people 
 have not cared to idolize Kami even to 
 their spiritual sight. Kami should remain 
 forever mysterious and incomprehensible. 
 To leave them alone and revere them from 
 a distance was the principle usually fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 “What here may be enshrined I know not; 
 Yet solemn tears of thankfulness mine eyes 
 o'erflow.". 
 
 Shinto is a religion without a creed, 
 and without ethical requirement; yet from 
 the first, sincerity of heart and ceremonial 
 cleanliness have been demanded. 
 
 Harai tamaye, Kiyome tamayel 
 
 Cleanse, I implore thee. Purify, I pray! 
 This the worshipper cries as with washing 
 of mouth and hands he prepares to present 
 himself before the gods. There is no doubt 
 that Shinto encouraged cleanliness, a pro- 
 minent national habit of the Japanese. 
 
 5 
 
The Chinese Learning 
 
 Confucianism came with the introduction 
 of Chinese literature into Japan, which first 
 took place in the fifth century. The Chinese 
 learning was at once adopted by the court 
 and speedily spread among the upper classes 
 of the people. Confucianism has never 
 been a religion in the strict sense; it has 
 always remained a school of learning in 
 Japan. Confucius himself was a teacher 
 more than a philosopher, not a religious 
 leader. But his political and ethical teach- 
 ings have been the most powerful influence 
 in the formation of the ethical character 
 of the Japanese, separately from or mixed 
 with other religions. 
 
 The followers of Confucius in Japan are 
 not of one body, but are divided into a 
 number of schools. All these schools, 
 however, were united in their devotion to 
 Confucius, “before whom no one lived as 
 great and after whom there will be no one 
 equal to him.” All of them agreed in 
 regarding the Four Books and the Five 
 Classics as authoritative. The Four Books 
 occupied for them the place which the 
 Four Gospels hold for Christians. Among 
 the four, the Analects stood first and 
 highest, for it contained the personal teach- 
 ings of Confucius. Many book written in 
 colloquial for the common people were 
 based on Confucian teachings, so that the 
 influence of the Chinese sage extended far 
 beyond the circle of the literary class. 
 
 According to Confucian teaching, there 
 are five relations in life. They are those 
 of ruler and subject, father and son, hus- 
 band and wife, elder brother and younger 
 
 6 
 
brother, and friend and friend. The sum 
 of human virtue is also five: love or hu- 
 manity, justice or righteousness, propriety, 
 knowledge or understanding, and faith or 
 truthfulness. The Japanese as well as 
 Chinese found in Confucianism a code of 
 inter-human conduct, which men should 
 practice in their daily life. 
 
 Shunti or the Supreme Ruler 
 
 Introduction of Chinese learning modified 
 earlier conception of the Kami. Many 
 centuries before Christ, the Chinese wor- 
 shipped Shunti or the Supreme Ruler. They 
 believed that by his decree kings ruled 
 and executed judgment; in his hands were 
 the issues of life and death. This ancient 
 faith has been preserved until our day. 
 At the grand altar of Heaven in Peking 
 sacrifice was offered with auspicious cere- 
 mony to the Imperial Heaven-Supreme 
 Ruler by the emperor once a year at the 
 winter solstice. 
 
 Confucius prefered Tien or the Heaven 
 in place of Shunti. Tien in Chinese charac- 
 ters means one great; and by that is 
 signified either the blue sky, and imper- 
 sonal something, or the Supreme Being. 
 Confucius never philosophized concerning 
 the idea of Heaven. The “Heaven” of 
 Confucius is far from the speculative con- 
 ceptions of pantheistic philosophers, and 
 comes nearer signifying personal being. 
 Otherwise it is hard to explain some of his 
 sayings as, for example, "He who offends 
 Heaven has none to whom he can pray,” 
 or “It is only Heaven who knoweth me.” 
 The worship of Tien or Shunti was never 
 instituted in Japan. But the ideas of Tien 
 
 7 
 
and Kami mutually influenced each other 
 until through association the terms at 
 present are well-nigh interchangeable. If 
 we may say that Tien universalized the 
 idea in Kami, it would also be fair to say 
 that Kami personalized the idea in Tien. 
 
 The Introduction of Buddhism 
 
 A. D. 552 is usually spoken of as the 
 date of the introduction of Buddhism to 
 Japan. In that year the king of Kudara, 
 one of three kingdoms in Korea, presented 
 to the emperor of Japan a statue of Buddha, 
 scriptures, banners, and other ritual in- 
 struments, accompanied by a letter, in which 
 Buddhism was praised as “the most excellent 
 of all teachings.” It was a personal mis- 
 sionary message from a king to a sovereign. 
 In regard to this new religion, the court 
 was divided into two parties. The history 
 of Buddhism for the following fifty years 
 is a record of its rise and fall with one 
 party or the other. 
 
 An earnest and the most powerful ad- 
 herent of Buddhism was found in Prince 
 Shotoku, the Constantine of Japanese Bud- 
 dhism. This imperial prince flourished early 
 in the seventh century. He prepared a 
 constitution of the country in seventeen 
 articles, in which Buddhism was proclaimed 
 the foundation of the state and the highest 
 religion in the universe. Temples and 
 monasteries, educational and philanthropic 
 institutions increased. Priests and nuns, 
 many of them from the Imperial family, 
 entered religious orders. Different sects 
 were established one after another by 
 priests, Chinese and Korean, as well as 
 by the Japanese who brought back fruits 
 of their study in China. 
 
 8 
 
Buddhism is of Indian origin. The found- 
 er, Gautama, belonged to a high caste 
 
 family called Sakya in the northern portion 
 of India. His father was the chief or 
 
 patriarch of a clan. A story of his early 
 life narrates that “when he was surrounded 
 by luxury there came to him the realiza- 
 tion of the disgust man feels at the sight 
 of old age and sickness and death, and as 
 he pondered these things, his enjoyment of 
 life vanished.” It was the beginning of 
 
 his quest after the enlightenment or the 
 
 lasting peace of mind. For several years 
 he wandered from one teacher to another 
 seeking redemption by the way of know- 
 ledge but failed. Whereupon he tried the 
 most rigorous austerities without success. 
 Disappointed and deserted he sat beneath 
 the Bo-tree, and spent four weeks in fast- 
 ing and meditation, and at last attained 
 the enlightenment. For forty years or 
 more Gautama traveled far and wide 
 preaching the way of emancipation "from 
 suffering in this world of sufferin.g.” He 
 lived to be eighty years old and died not 
 long before or after 480 B. C. 
 
 Buddhism as it exists in Japan, and other 
 countries, is apparently a religion of con- 
 tradictions. It is most philosophical in 
 one form of it, grossly confused in the 
 other. Sects and divisions are almost in- 
 numerable. The objects of worship and 
 doctrines concerning them are absolutely 
 beyond the comprehension of an ordinary 
 mind. The scriptures amount to several 
 thousand volumes in all. Intellectually 
 Buddhism is a speculative idealism; prac- 
 tically it is a mass of idolatry. 
 
 There are two great branches. One is 
 
 9 
 
the Mahayana or Great Vehicle doctrine, 
 the other the Hinayana or Small V'ehicle 
 doctrine. They are sometimes called from 
 their geographical prevalence the Northern 
 and the Southern branches. With the ex- 
 ception of two small sects, now extinct, 
 all Japanese Buddhism, past and present, 
 belongs to the Mahayana. Mahayanists 
 claim their teaching to be later but more 
 developed and more philosophical, there- 
 fore the more comprehensive of the two 
 systems of Buddhistic belief. 
 
 Sects and Sub-sects 
 
 Fourteen principal sects of Buddhism 
 there are in Japan, many of which are 
 divided into a large number of sub-divisions. 
 Time does not allow me to refer to these 
 various sects, but it may be of interest if 
 I mentioned some of the sects represented 
 in the territory. 
 
 I. Shingon Sect was founded by Kobo, 
 an illustrious name in the history of Jap- 
 anese Buddhism. He was commissioned by 
 the emperor to visit China in 804, came 
 back two years later and founded Shingon 
 Sect. Magnificent temples with hundreds 
 of halls and monasteries on Mount Koya 
 are lasting monuments to his memory. 
 The chief deity of the sect is called Dai- 
 nichi or the Great Illumined, who is some- 
 times identified with the Sun Goddess of 
 Shinto. Gautama Buddha, according to 
 Kobo, is only one of many manifestations 
 of eternal Dainichi. Shingon is the True 
 Word, the efficacious formula, and by 
 knowing the True Word, desired results can 
 be achieved. Shingon priests are thus held 
 to be masters of occult powers and are 
 
 10 
 
“employed to secure for the living the at- 
 tainment of their desires, and for the dead 
 the mitigation of the pains of hell.” The 
 sect is now third in number among the 
 sects of Japan. 
 
 2. Soto is one of the divisions of Zen 
 sect. Zen has as its aim the realization 
 of the real and unchanging self which lies 
 behind the world of sense. Consequently 
 it lays the stress on meditation. The sect 
 has had great influence among the samurai 
 of earlier times and army officers of today. 
 The popularity is due to its emphasis on 
 self-discipline and self-control. In its vari- 
 ou.s forms the Zen sect has today a larger 
 number of temples than any other Buddhist 
 sect in Japan. 
 
 3. Jodo or Pure Land sect was founded 
 by Honen in A. D. 1175, but the worship 
 of Amida existed long before that year. 
 Amida, the Ruler of the Western Paradise, 
 is a mighty and merciful Buddha, who made 
 a vow that he should not become a Buddha 
 until he had accumulated merits to save 
 all who put their trust in him. Honen 
 proclaimed salvation for all mankind not 
 by meditation nor by ritual, but by the 
 “repetition of the name of Amida Buddha 
 with faith in his boundless mercy, whereby 
 we may be born in the happiest Pure 
 Land.” The fundamental tenet of Honen’s 
 religion consisted of faith in the power 
 of the all compassionate and almighty 
 Amida, the Lord of the Pure Land. 
 
 4. Shin sect or Jodo-Shin-Shu (Pure 
 Land True Sect) was established by Shin- 
 ran, sometimes called the Martin Luther of 
 Buddhism. He was a disciple of Honen, 
 but he went much further than his master 
 
in the application of the doctrine of salva- 
 tion by faith. He forbade the worship of 
 all Buddhas but Amida and denied the 
 merit of any possible deed for the salva- 
 tion of the believer, preaching absolute 
 dependence in faith on the merit of that 
 one supreme Buddha. Na-mu-A-mi-da- 
 Butsu, an expression of six written charac- 
 ters, meaning glory to Amida Buddha is 
 the prayer, the adoration and creed of 
 the Shin sect. Following the example of 
 Shinran who married a princess, breaking 
 the Buddhist tradition, the priests in this 
 sect marry and are householders. 
 
 In Kyoto are two head temples of the 
 sect called Hongwanji, the west and the 
 east representing two divisions of the sect. 
 Both have magnificent wooden structures 
 of huge dimensions, each with a number 
 of subordinate buildings. The Shin sect is at 
 present the most popular church in Jap- 
 anese Buddhism, and has shown great 
 adaptability to modern conditions, and in 
 recent years has adopted many of the 
 methods of Christian propaganda. 
 
 5. Nichiren, who flourished in the 
 thirteenth century, was the founder of the 
 sect bearing his ov/n name. He was a 
 man of vigorous personality and uncom- 
 promising zeal. It was at the time when 
 Japan was under fear of invasion by the 
 Mongol Emperor. Nichiren warned the 
 nation that, if they accepted not the true 
 faith, the country would be vanquished 
 by the invader. The chief scripture upon 
 which his system was founded was the 
 Lotus of the Good Law. He strongly de- 
 nounced the worship of Amida and pro- 
 claimed the supremacy of Gautama, who 
 was stated as the eternal Buddha in the 
 
 12 
 
heavens. The sect has retained something 
 of the founder’s fanaticism and is the most 
 aggressive type of the Buddhist church even 
 at the present time. 
 
 An Outstanding Conception 
 
 The foregoing brief sketches of a few 
 sects will be sufficient to show that there 
 are all sorts of beliefs and manners in so- 
 called Buddhism. There are, however, 
 certain outstanding conceptions or ideas 
 which will represent the religion as a whole. 
 The most conspicuous of these outstanding 
 conceptions is that of Satori or enlighten- 
 ment. It best conveys to the Japanese 
 mind the religious ideal of Buddhism. 
 Spiritual enlightenment by the dispersion 
 of ignorance, or a perfect understanding 
 of the truth by liberation from false and 
 erroneous ideas, may be said to be the 
 final goal of Buddhist teaching. 
 
 The ways and means of attaining this 
 final goal are different according to sects 
 and sub-sects. The Buddhist will say: 
 From varied sides the paths ascend. 
 
 Many and far abreast. 
 
 But when we gaze on the calm full-moon 
 
 Single’s the mountain’s crest. 
 
 Buddhism revealed to the Japanese a more 
 serious view of life. It taught the imper- 
 manence of all things and that nothing 
 exists which endures. Satisfaction should 
 not be sought in the externals of the world. 
 Peace may not be found amidst the con- 
 stant changes of life. From Buddhism 
 Japan gained a conception of the universe 
 at once broader, more inclusive, and far 
 
 13 
 
more complex than that depicted in her 
 naive belief of Shinto. 
 
 From the Satori of Buddhism thus came 
 Japan’s aspiration for ultimate reality be- 
 hind the changing cause-governed pheno- 
 mena of the world and that calm disposi- 
 tion so well imaged in Dalbutsu, the 
 colossal bronze statue at Kamakura, which 
 one has described as “a true symbol of 
 the central idea of Buddhism, the spiritual 
 peace which comes of perfected knowledge 
 and the subjugation of all passions.” 
 
 Bushido, the Code of Samurai 
 
 Any exposition of the faith of the Jap- 
 anese would be incomplete without a re- 
 ference to Bushido, the code of the samu- 
 rai or knightly class. It is not a religion 
 nor a system of morality. It has never 
 been organized, but has always remained 
 a principle. The Indigenous faith, with 
 Chinese ethics and Indian philosophy, com- 
 bined to develop the principle that arose 
 as a product of the social environment of 
 the feudal system. Bushido has inspired 
 the Japanese breast with the spirit of 
 loyalty and patriotism. F. Brinkley, the 
 author of History of Japanese People goes 
 as far as to say, “If religion be the source 
 from which springs the motives of men's 
 noblest actions, then the religion of Japan 
 was neither the Law of the Buddha, nor 
 the Path of the Gods, but the Way of 
 Warriors.” For the description of Bushido 
 I refer you to Dr. Nitobe’s “Bushido,” a 
 classic among books relating to the Jap- 
 anese, being translated into a dozen lang- 
 uages. 
 
 14 
 
Christianity, Catholic and Protestant 
 
 The sixteenth century witnessed the 
 coming of Roman Catholic Christianity. 
 At one time it counted several hundreds of 
 thousands of converts. Some of the daim- 
 yos were earnest believers. But it was 
 practically stamped out by bitter persecu- 
 tions, chiefly for political reasons, after a 
 brief life not long enough to play a role 
 in the spiritual development of the nation. 
 
 At the opening of the country in the 
 middle of the nineteenth century Chris- 
 tianity was introduced for the second time, 
 and is making headway in all parts of 
 the empire. During the past three de- 
 cades Roman and Greek Catholics as well 
 as the Protestants of Europe and America 
 have commissioned their missionaries in 
 several thousands. Educational and social 
 institutions as well as religious have been 
 inaugurated. Among the three forms of 
 Christian churches the Protestant counts 
 nearly two hundred thousand of communi- 
 cants. The two Catholic will add to them 
 about a hundred thousand, making the 
 total number of the professing Christians 
 as three hundred thousands. The influence 
 of the Christian church, however- should 
 not be measured by its numerical figures. 
 Christianity is already recognized as one 
 of the three religions of Japan, the other 
 two being Buddhism and Shinto. The 
 name of Christ is upheld by non-Christians 
 as well as the Christian as a great religious 
 teacher at par with Gautama and Con- 
 fucius. Particularly in its social activities 
 the Christian church leads all other religious 
 organizations. 
 
 15 
 
Christianity and Other Religions 
 
 Christianity has been a spur to the old 
 religions and has aroused them to new 
 activity. The many signs of new life lately 
 displayed by Buddhism and Shintoism can 
 not be referred to a single cause, but the 
 spread of Christianity has had a great in- 
 fluence over them all. Buddhists and 
 Shintoists have established schools for the 
 education of the priests and the laity. 
 Some of them have founded Young Men’s 
 Associations, Women’s societies, Sunday 
 Schools, and all sorts of charitable institu- 
 tions. Recently the wedding ceremony was 
 innovated in their temples in imitation of 
 the Christian ceremony, and it is becoming 
 popular among the people. 
 
 Japan, with all her progress in the arts 
 and crafts of civilization, and all her friend- 
 liness toward Christian ethical standards, 
 is far from being a Christian nation, but 
 ! it is evident that Christian truths and ideals 
 are actively at ferment, mightily affecting 
 the ethico-religious life of the Japanese in 
 all its aspects. 
 
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 THE FAITH OF JAPAN 
 
 Hartford— Lamson Lectures 
 
 BY 
 
 TASUKU HARADA 
 
 I PUBLISHED BY 
 
 I MacMillan Company 
 
 • NEW YORK 
 
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