Special Temporary Proselytization Activities of the Jōdo Sect: The Origins of “Specially Appointed Proselyzers"

During the Taisho period, the Buddhist sects, cooperating not only among themselves, but also with Christianity and sect Shinto, began a public welfare service known as the movement for the edification of the Japanese people. In particular, during the six years between 1912 and 1917, there was a close association among the sects, and they cooperated in social work, in dealing with political problems, in religious education and in the realm of thought and virtuous conduct. In 1900, the Bureau of Shrines and Temples within the Ministry of Home Affairs was abolished and was replaced by two bureaus, the Bureau of Shrines and Bureau of Religion. However, in 1913, the Bureau of Religion was transferred to the Ministry of Education. Henceforth, administratively, Shinto was treated as not being a religion. The shrines were seen as agencies for promoting respect to the gods, and the successive Ministers of Home Affairs during the Taisho period repeatedly emphasized that respect to the gods was fundamental to Japan's morality. The leaders of the proselytization activities within the Jodo sect were Shio Benkei (born 1876), Mochizuki Shinko (b. 1869), who formulated the rules for proselytization activites as chief of the sect's religious affairs bureau, Watanabe Kaikyoku (b. 1872), a leader of the new precepts movement who became an advocate of public welfare services and also served as chief writer of the Jodo kyoho, and Yabuki Keiki (b. 1879), who along with Watanabe contributed greatly to social welfare services in Japan. It was the Jodo sect's program of sponsoring students to study abroad and in Japan, administered by the sect's religious affairs bureau, that fostered these people, who were not only prominent scholars of Buddhism but were also internationally-minded men who were able to reassess traditional Japanese culture (which had been attacked by Western culture) by comparing it with the various cultures of the world. The fact that, through their efforts, Buddhism came to be seen, not just a religion of individual salvation, but as as religion with a social message, must be evaluated highly. On February 2, 1918, Yamashita Genyu, the head of the Jodo sect, made a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine. Subsequently, on March 1, he also paid his respects at the Momoyama mausoleum of Emperor Meiji. Yamashita's aim was to mark the beginning of the J5do sect's movement for the edification of the Japanese people by specially appointed proselytizers. In this paper, I have discussed how the character of the J5do sect's proselytization activities changed as a result of the revision in the regulations for proselytization activities which were put into effect between 1911 and 1917, especially as it relates to the strengthening of the relationship between the sect and the imperial family. Moreover, I have also considered how the Jodo sect responded to the national problems of this revolutionary period through the movement for the edification of the Japanese people which was supported by the brilliant scholar-monks who were educated by the sect's scholarship programs