Where are the pilgrims and punters?FAR from preaching abstinence from earthly pleasures, the Buddhist priests behind the counter of Vowz, a Tokyo bar, encourage the opposite. There are different paths to Buddha, says Yoshinobu Fujioka, the head priest, as he pours a gin and tonic for a customer. “Spiritual awakening can come in any conversation. We provide that opportunity.”
Such are the doctrinal contortions that Buddhists in Japan sometimes practise in their struggle to remain relevant. Some of the nation’s 77,000 Buddhist temples run cafés, organise fashion shows or host funerals for pets. Still, hundreds close every year. By 2040, 40% may have gone, laments Hidenori Ukai, the author of a new book on the crisis in Japanese Buddhism.
In 1950 the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto was burned down by a schizophrenic monk who adored the place. Today’s temples, by contrast, are fading away in a puff of indifference. Japanese people are growing less religious, and less numerous, every year.
You might think that funerals would keep modern temples busy. Nearly 1.3m people died last year in Japan (a...Continue reading
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