『元亨釈書』と神祇

Buddhism was first introduced into Japan in the middle of the sixth century, when several successive Chinese and Korean denominations reached this country. Some writings about Buddhist doctorine and history also appeared at this time. It was very rare, however, for Buddhism to be treated as a whole in these works. It was not until 1322, over seven hundred years after the first introduction of Buddhism into Japan, that Kokan Shiren, a priest of Tofukuji, completed his thirty-volume Genko shakusho. When the role of Buddhism in Japan is examined, it becomes clear that the most important area investigation is the relationship between Buddhism and Shinto, The native religion in Japan. This essay deals with how Shinto is understood in he Genko shakusho, which has as its purpose the description of the synthetic history of Buddhism in Japan. Shiren found it remarkable that in his own country, unlike in China, there had been relatively little persecution or oppression of Buddhism and Buddhists by the secular government. Moreover, he considered it a characteristic of Japanese Buddhism that the whole people, including the Emperor and the noblemen, valued Buddhism and its priests, and that the priests thought their loyalty and service to the Emperor and the secular government most important. Shiren concluded that the influence of Shinto, the native religion of Japan, was the cause of this unusual characteristic in Japanese Buddhism, and that therefore one could never discuss the history of Japanese Buddhism without mentioning this influence. This paper examines Shiren\u27s description of Shinto in The Genko shakusho, and thereby clarifies Shiren\u27s attitude toward the history of Japanese Buddhism