Gennaro Brooks-Church

Kazuma
Japan. Technically a Buddhist, but is more accurately a practitioner of ancestral worship.

If I were asked if I’m religious, I would probably say no. But, maybe my religion is ancestral worship. I’m from Okinawa. It is a cultural minority in Japan, so my background is different from a typical Japanese person. In my house we have an altar. Its form is Buddhism, but the content is ancestral worship.

Formally speaking, my religion is Buddhism, but I don’t practice it at all. Practically speaking, my religion is ancestral worship. The definition of practice is very difficult. For example, on New Years day, many people go to shrines to pray for health and prosperity. This is a form of practice, but it is hardly religious. It is a worldly, or practical approach.

We have a lot of annual, and even daily, ritual which stems from religion, but most Japanese people consider these rituals to be old customs only, and not religious. Perhaps scholars would try to say it is religious, but common people don’t see it that way.

Yet, religion does exist in Japan. Today, especially among the younger generation, many people are getting into cults. It has become notorious. For example, the Oumu cult, which I think came from India. They got a lot of press recently for leaking sarin gas into the subway and killing many people. They are not the only ones. There are several other bizarre and dangerous cults in Japan.

Of course, another religion in Japan is Christianity. Many Americans are in Okinawa because we have a huge US military base there. It has more than fifty thousand people, not only solders, but teachers, doctors, and family, and they helped spread Christianity. They’ve built a lot of churches.

But, I would say you have three main Japanese religions. One is Buddhism. They have many beautiful temples. A large number of people’s customs stem from Buddhism and it’s offshoots. Zen Buddhism is an example. Many Americans seem to think of Zen as a peaceful, calm religion, but that is an incorrect perception. Zen stems from a philosophy of warriors.

Zen is used to strengthen their spirit in order to fight better. They calm their spirit with Zen techniques so that they can fight better. In the sixties, hippies and other Americans just interpreted the peaceful issues. There are not a lot of Zen Buddhists in Japan now.

Then you have Soka Gakai Buddhism. They are fundamentalists. Our constitution stresses the separation of church and state, but Soka Gakai always tries to combine the two, using their large wealth and political connections. You can always see them in the press trying to do this. Recently they had a split in their organization due to corruption.

Outside of Japan there are some celebrity Soka Gakai members, like the actor Robert Deniro. The organization uses that celebrity status as propaganda to boost their membership. They court younger Japanese people with posters of these famous people. You can join and get a Robert Deniro poster!

The second large religion is Shinto. This is a very nationalistic religion, supporting the emperor system. Many conservative, right wing Shinto want to return to the emperor system. But, again, it is not religion. It is political, especially if seen from left wing perspectives. This is why, when talking about religion in Japan, I feel anxiety. The Shinto are right wing religious extremists.

They are very political, and can be aggressive, especially towards foreigners or Japanese people who mix with foreigners. Above all towards Americans. So I have to be careful. For example, the Yakusa, who are Japanese Mafia, are Shinto. They are always praying for the return of the emperor, using the Japanese sword, Katana, in their ceremonies.

You just mention the Yakusa, and people get scared. That is why people don’t talk about religion in Japan. They are afraid. People have a stereotypical image of the Yakusa, even me, but it is enough to keep me scared. I’m a grad school student, so in Japan it is rare to see such people on campus, but when I go out to a bar or something, I need to be careful about what I say.

Even here at Columbia University, there are certain conservative right-wing Japanese professors, and I sometimes talk politics and culture with them. But never religion. It is too sensitive a subject.

The third religion would be animism, and this is very much intertwined with custom, and ancestral worship. Ancestral worship is very important to us. For example, in my family we have a name plate with all the names of all my ancestors.

My father keeps it in the altar at home because he is currently the successor. After he dies, his name will be put on the plate and then I will keep it, since I am the oldest son and next in line. Then, I will pass it on to my first son.

Ancestral things are important to us. When a family member becomes ninety-eight years old we have a big ceremony and party. Last year my grandmother became ninety-eight, so I went back to Okinawa, even though I had course work here.

But I don’t really have a religion. I know nothing about Buddhism, my supposed religion. Sure, if I’m going to die, then maybe my parents or somebody near me would call the monk from the Japanese temple, but that is simply form. The content of it is empty.