Tokyo Day 2
Today I started out visiting the Zozo-Ji Temple, a Pure Land Buddhist temple. Zozo-Ji is the center for Pure Land Buddhism in Japan and the complex is enormous and houses seminarians and monks-in-training in the Pure Land tradition. When I emerged from the subway, it was not all that easy to figure out where the temple was, although when I finally got my bearings it was not far from the station at all. It, like the Meiji Shrine yesterday, is nestled in a park. It's also very close to the Tokyo Tower, a huge,modern structure that looks a bit incongruous when you are looking at the temple and see this big modern tower sticking up behind it! I absolutely loved the visit to Zozo-Ji. The grounds are pretty compact but there are a lot of buildings in a small area. There is the main prayer hall, then a smaller one to its left, and behind them is the graveyard for a number of shoguns. There is also a modern Buddhist cemetery on the grounds as well as the seminary for training priests/ monks in the Pure Land tradition. I was able to walk all over the complex and even wandered into the seminary area where the monks live and study.
When I first arrived, I went to the main hall and there was a memorial service in progress. Pure Land Buddhists have a strong belief that at death the soul of a practitioner goes to the "Pure Land", a sort of paradise where Amida Buddha awaits to welcome them. Unlike other Buddhist sects, the soul does not have to go through thousands of rebirths again and again. So for Pure Land Buddhists (as with all Buddhists actually!) funeral services and memorial services are critical for the soul's journey to the Pure Land. Memorial services are held at particular intervals after death, so they are not the funeral, held very soon after death, but rather a series of rituals done at particular intervals (more frequent in the first year after death and then more stretched out as time goes on.) I was able to stand quietly in the back of the prayer hall and watch the memorial service that was happening as I arrived. The priest was giving what appeared to be a sermon, although I could not understand it! The service also included chanting, drumming, burning of incense etc. The main hall seemed to be fully booked with memorial services, as I noticed one family would leave and before long another service was in progress!
The second prayer hall was also doing a booming business in various life cycle rituals, particularly baby dedication ceremonies. Pure Land Buddhists do a ceremony when a baby is 100 days old that basically dedicates the child to the path of Pure Land Buddhism. I sat and observed one of these ceremonies right from start to finish. One thing I have noticed about Japanese Buddhists, they dress up for religious rituals! The women all wear black dresses, stockings, high heels...the works, and the men are all in black suits and ties. No casual attire when attending the temple for a ritual. For the baby dedication service there were the parents and older brother of the child being dedicated and grandparents on both sides in attendance. At the appointed hour the family all goes up close to the altar area and sit on stools in front of the Buddha shrine and the priests engage in the rituals which include chanting a number of mantras while beating the drum and ringing chimes and gonging the large bell in the temple. It is quite a stunning ritual. The grandmother of the child held him and she and he were wrapped in a beautiful garment that looked like a very fine and elaborate cape that tied around the grandmother and the baby. It was beautiful and fine black silk with a gorgeous design on it. Grandma and baby were then called to kneel before the priest who prayed over and blessed the baby, touching his head with a ritual object while offering incense, chants and prayers. Then while the priests continued chanting every member of the family went close to the main altar and offered incense to the image of the Amida Buddha. Then they returned to their seats for more chanting and prayers. At the end the monk gave them what looked like a calligraphied copy of a sutra and incense from the temple and other religious articles.
The monks at that temple were certainly busy doing these rituals today. Families were pouring in one after the other the whole time I was there which was nearly three hours. (I'm a religious ritual junkie and was enjoying watching it all too much to leave!)
When I left the second prayer hall I wandered into a section that looked a lot like a Shinto shrine, with the water cleansing station before it and incense burning. I was amazed to see hundreds, possibly thousands of small stone statues all elaborately dressed in wool caps and adorned with flowers or wind fans in bright colors, They were the cutest statues I'd ever seen. I noticed they all had places for flowers to be left and many of them were pretty elaborately decorated. As I wandered through it trying to figure out what it could be I remembered reading a number of years ago about somewhere in Japan that women were able to go to have a memorial erected when they have a miscarriage. This is the place. All of those statues represent miscarried babies. The families purchase one of the statues and then visit it periodically and adorn it and essentially care for it, as part of their mourning for their unborn child and as a way to help that child's soul move on its karmic journey. While the reason for those statues is a sad one, I must say it is the most cheerful looking memorial garden I've ever seen. The statues are just so endearing! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the temple and the chance to observe all the rituals that were going on, with the monks in their fancy robes and all the ritual, chanting,incense etc.
After I left the temple I took the train to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which is a terrific museum about the history of Tokyo itself. It was known as Edo until 1868 when it was named Tokyo, meaning Eastern Capital. It was fascinating to learn about the Edo period of Tokyo's history (17018th century) under the shoguns who were the military rulers of Japan at that time. The exhibit goes into great detail about what life was like for all the different social classes in society during that era and I was struck by how even those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder were literate. Publishing books and offering lending libraries to everyone goes way back in Japan and I was amazed to learn that even the rank and file, bottom rung laborer was expected to learn to read, write and do the abacus. No wonder Japanese people are such high achievers academically. It goes way back in their history! The Edo-Tokyo museum is very interactive and there were tons of school children there, many of whom were clearly completing school assignments as they were wandering around with papers that they were filling out as they got to the various stations in the museum exhibits. I had lunch in their museum cafe, another Japanese meal of egg, chicken and rice. They served it with only chopsticks so I had quickly master the art of picking up rice with chopsticks, which took a little practice! And, as no spoon was provided, I sipped my Miso soup right from the bowl! By the time I was finished at the museum I was tired from being on the go for nearly 9 hours! I came back to the hotel and have crashed in the room. I got a Japanese beer from the local 7 Eleven Store as I was hot and thirsty when I returned.
At this point my fellow travelers are starting to arrive. Our Trip leader stopped by my room with instructions re tomorrow morning's initial gathering. I'm cooling off in the room tonight. Too tired to even think about going out for dinner!
Pics include a shot of the inside of the main hall at Zozo-Ji, then shots of the second prayer hall with one of the monks at the drum and a shot of the altar in that temple. Then a close up of the baby statues and a shot of some of the many hundreds that are in the memorial garden.
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