Kasuga Shrine is the oldest symbol of tolerance. Many people of different religions and deer come there.

This is Kasuga Shrine of Shinto nearby Todaiji Temple which has the large statue of Buddha, Kofukuji Temple and Nara Park in Nara City, these are world heritage sites. Many travelers visit Kasuga Shrine along with visiting Todaiji temple and Kofukuji Temple.

Kasuga Shrine is a wondrous Shinto cathedral which has a lot of sight-seeing spots with exceptional atmosphere. The approaching road which has a lot of “toros”(Japanese stone light-stands) and woods with deer. The complicated sacred places and the beautiful corridors with a lot of Japanese brass lanterns which form lines along vermilion pillars. The contractive structures of Shinto and Buddhism are separated by a narrow waterway. 

 (Left: a structure of Shinto Light: a structure of Buddhism)

Buddhist structures in Shinto shrine? Yes, the most attractive point of Kasuga Shrine is the coexistence of Shinto and Buddhism, and it is the oldest shrine of the coexistence of the two religions.

(Asyura Statue in Kofukuji Temple)

Kofukuji Temple of Buddhism has been the brother cathedral of Kasuga Shrine since the eighth century. And the two cathedrals which were based on different religions have interacted each other. Since 538 when Buddhism came to Japan via Korea and China from India, Japanese people at that time had faced the problem of how they should have a good praying stance between their native Shinto and Buddhism coming from the outside. Therefore, the coexistence of the two religions has been Japan’s unique resolution with tolerant integration of this problem.

Tolerance or rigidity?

The Japanese tolerate to any religions. They go to a shrine on January first, they celebrate Christmas and they go to a temple on the last-day of the year. They think these are natural.

(Daiko Matsuyama)

Daiko Matuyama is a fast-rising Zen monk of Buddhism. He has held a school of Zen experiences for foreigners in his temple, Taizoin Temple, in Myoshinji Cathedral. He said as follows about the unique sense of religion of the Japanese.

“I was born into a family of a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Nonetheless I went to a Catholic junior high school and a Catholic high school, my family and friends celebrated my entrances and had watched over my activity with warm eyes.

I visited Ireland when I was a student of Tokyo University. Ireland has strong Catholic people, the mother of my home-stay house said to me with her face burning red after hearing my curious upbringing.

“Incredible! How could you do such things in your country? In Ireland if you had done such things, you couldn’t complain about anything even if being killed.” I could say nothing to rebut her.

I have spent time doing the Zen discipline with meditation and consideration of the role of religions since entering the priesthood after the graduation of university. The sense of religion of the Japanese is unique and it is tolerant, but many foreigners who devote themselves to their religions feel that the Japanese have no principles.

I think that the differences among religions is similar to the differences among cuisines. And the sense of religion of the Japanese is the same as Japanese cuisine. Traditional Japanese cuisine like “kaiseki cuisine” has no main dish and it doesn’t have the idea of a main dish. The Japanese don’t think that one specific religion is the premium, but they gaze on the essences of the philosophy and the ethics in a religion. The Japanese is aside from the attitude of believing in something but they stand for the attitude of respecting something or respecting others. I am a Zen monk of my temple but I worship the deity of the small shrine in my temple as well.

I have a dream that all the world will share the tolerance of other religions. Now I have an FM radio program in which a Buddhist monk, a Shinto priest and a Christian pastor reply to many worries from listeners spontaneously. I have never heard of multiple religionists trying to reply to problems. I am sure that it is a ground-breaking event.

For all religions it is important to follow their beliefs, nonetheless, I assure that there is a more important idea than following their beliefs. The idea is to respect others and to get along with each other.

Now, I can persuade the mother in Ireland.

The essence of a religion is not to believe in it blindly, but it is to give a sense of security to people and to help them to fulfill their lives with a sense of gratitude. There are many religions in different countries, different environments, different histories and different cultures. I think it’s about time that there were many beliefs giving a sense of security to people on the earth. We must never argue against other senses of security. We have to gaze with tolerance at getting along with each other. I want to expand this idea of tolerance of the Japanese to the world.”

His idea seems unique to foreigners, but it is nothing other than the idea oriented from the Japanese ancient resolution. Many Japanese people may think without being surprised that it is interesting for him to visualize the Japanese vague sense of religion. To coexist and to get along with each other is a idea consciously or subconsciously in the blood Japanese people.

Kasuga Shrine is the oldest symbol of tolerance. The larger the expansion of tolerance of religions is, the higher the valuable position of Kasuga Shrine rises. Todaiji Temple has the famous large statue of Buddha. Kofukuji Temple has the wonderful Asyura Statue. Exactly speaking there is no statue drawing visitors toward itself in Kasuga Shrine. Granted the two temples with the two statues pull visitors toward them, the coexistence of two religions based on the sense of tolerance in Kasuga Shrine isn’t beneath the two temples. The uniqueness of Kasuga Shrine will pull more visitors toward itself in the near future.

Please walk through the corridor of Kasuga Shrine in order to feel a sense of tolerance. Please pray for your peace and the peace of the world at the complicated sacred places in order to get along with others.