Nara's relations with ancient China, Korea revisited on 1,300th anniversary of Heijo-kyo Capital

Jan. 31, 2010

Nara's relations with ancient China, Korea revisited on 1,300th anniversary of Heijo-kyo Capital

Nara, a major tourist spot of western Japan, is out to demonstrate its history as Japan’s first “international” capital with links to the ancient China and Korea by organizing many special events and programs. Nara boasts of being a “serene ancient capital” but people from various walks of life there are having exciting days this year, the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Nara’s Heijo-kyo Capital.
Nara hosts a number of valuable cultural heritages preserved throughout its 1,300 years of history. Some of them are original to Japan, but some were based on imported thoughts and cultures, notably Buddhism, according to the Rev. Kashu Matsukubo from Yakushiji Temple. “When Buddhist priests from China and Korea visit Nara, many of them tell us, ‘We feel as if we were back in our homeland,’” he says.

Nara was Japan’s capital from 710 to 793, the period when Japan tried hard to establish itself as a “state” with a universal code of laws and a firm cultural foundation. Advanced technologies and precious items came along with Buddhism mainly from China. They were used to design and build temples and other structures in Heijo-kyo Capital.

Colored with bright blue and red,
the capital of Nara is at its best now,
just like glowing cherry blossoms.
(A personal translation)

This is a frequently quoted waka poem composed by Onono Oyu, a court official who was active in the early eighth century. Blue-green lattice windows and vermilion-lacquered columns at shrines and other buildings at various places in Nara, the colors which can be seen even now, characterized the capital’s landscape in the period. Heijo-kyo Capital, which had a population of about 100,000, also had streets laid out orderly in a grid pattern, based on a design for the capital of the then Tang dynasty of China.
Many important items and technologies were brought to Japan from China by missions who risked their lives to travel across the rough East China Sea. One of the projects planned in celebration of the 1,300th anniversary calls for building a full-scale ship at the restored Heijo Palace site. The ship is a replica of an old vessel which was used by a mission sent to China during the Nara period. “It will be really worth seeing because you (visitors) will have a sense of the reality and dynamic appearance of the ship,” Nara Governor Shogo Arai says in an interview on Nara Explorer, an English language quarterly. The structure “represents symbolic evidence that Nara flourished as an international city.”
Imported technologies and thoughts were accepted and studied by monks at temples in Nara because Japan had no public or state facilities to digest them at the time, the Rev. Matsukubo said at a recent lecture meeting organized by the Nara prefectural government. Yakushiji, the temple where the 43-year-old priest serves, was one of the “Big Seven” temples in Heijo-kyo Capital.
Buddhist priests in the Nara period contributed to not only establishing basic systems to govern the country but also integrating Japanese people as a nation under the Buddhist philosophy, which stresses harmony among people and calls to be modest while helping and respecting each other, the Rev. Matsukubo said. It is feared that today’s world is becoming excessively economy-oriented, he said. East Asian countries, especially Japan, China and Korea, share traditional values based on Buddhism. The Rev. Matsukubo hopes that the planned events in Nara will provide an occasion for visiting people to take a fresh look at the Buddhist values held among Asian countries.
Buddhist priests from Japan, China and South Korea have been holding meetings almost every year since the 1990s to reconfirm their roles to play for people’s peace. The first meeting was held in Beijing in 1995, two years after the then Buddhist Association of China President Zhao Puchu visited Japan and proposed holding a trilateral Buddhists' dialogue. “We, the Buddhist priests from Japan, China and Korea, are resolved to work closely together for peace,“ since the three countries have nothing but a narrow strip of water to separate them, the Rev. Matsukubo said.
The programs for the 1,300th anniversary include a pilgrimage-like tour of religious sites in Nara and neighboring areas. The Journey of People’s Wishes over 1,300 Years program will be joined by 52 temples and shrines, which will offer special displays of their historical assets, including secretly preserved statues.
Nara attracted 540,000 foreign tourists in 2008, 31 pct of them from South Korea and 6 pct from China. Nara government people expect the series of events will make the ancient capital more attractive to foreign tourists with illustrations about its historical relations with the rest of Asia. “I would like many people to discover and enjoy Nara and would like them to feel glad to have spent some time here,” Governor Arai said. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government pins hopes on tourism in addition to the environment and health as the three major pillars of Japan's new growth strategy for the years ahead. A success of the special events planned by Nara must be a matter of great concern not only for local government officials but also for the Japanese government.

Poetry reading ceremony shows Imperial family’s traditional role for Japan’s culture

Jan. 18, 2010

Poetry reading ceremony shows Imperial family’s traditional role for Japan’s culture


The nationally televised “Utakaihajime” New Year’s poetry reading ceremony at the Imperial Palace is one of the few opportunities that give the people a real-time glimpse of the Emperor and his family through the chrysanthemum curtain. The time-honored event also indicates the Imperial family used to be the biggest patron of Japan’s traditional culture. This year’s ceremony, held on Jan. 14, was broadcast live from the Imperial Palace by NHK, Japan’s public TV channel.
The ceremony is held in the presence of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who compose waka poems under a theme given for each year. (An author's note about waka poems can be found in the blog post published on May 14, 2009) So do other members of the Imperial family and participants selected or invited for the ceremony. Readers intone their poems with traditional rhythm and melody. This year’s theme was “light.” A total of 23,346 poems were submitted by the public. Of this, 172 poems came from 20 foreign countries and territories. Poems submitted by 10 people across Japan were selected and recited at the ceremony.
Emperor Akihito, in his 22nd year on the throne, made his poem describing a scene he saw when he took a stroll with Empress Michiko in a garden in the Imperial Palace grounds early spring last year. The couple celebrated the 50th anniversary of their wedding last year.

Where rays of sunlight
Filter through the trees I see
In the middle of the path
Carpeted with fallen leaves
A clump of green grass growing.
(A translation published by the Imperial Household Agency on its website)

Japan’s Emperor performs a series of official duties stipulated under the Constitution, such as meeting with and holding banquets for state guests and other foreign dignitaries and proclaiming the opening of the parliamentary sessions. On top of the ceremonial tasks, the Emperor has religious and cultural jobs inherited from his ancestors. Japan’s royal family distances itself from politics, but Imperial family members have been active in demonstrating their interest in Japan’s traditional values. The Imperial household archives contain numerous historically important items ranging from ancient documents and books to paintings. This indicates that the Imperial family sponsored various cultural events and artists over the years. Emperor Akihito grows rice at a paddy field in the Imperial Palace grounds, inheriting a custom established by his father, Emperor Hirohito. This is a show of the Imperial family’s moral support for agriculture and farmers in the “Land of Golden Ears of Rice,” as Japan is called so historically. Empress Michiko, assisted by her women, raises silkworms at a facility in the Imperial Palace grounds. Silk produced by them is said to be used for, among other things, gifts for foreign heads of state.
The 10 winners selected from the public were invited to attend the ceremony at the spacious Matsu-no-ma (pine tree) room. Among those persons was a 69-year-old blind housewife from Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Her poem goes:

My face is felt to be directed toward light.

My son approaches me

and presses the shutter of his camera.
(A personal translation)

After the end of the ceremony, the Emperor and the Empress had a chat with the persons whose poems were selected this year. Kuniko Moriwaki, the blind woman, said, “Her majesty the Empress kindly held my hands after taking off her gloves. I was so happy that my heart trembled,” according to the Mainichi newspaper.
The theme for next year’s poetry reading ceremony is “leaf.” Japanese people are not necessarily unanimous about maintaining the Emperor system as it is now. But at least a series of traditional rites and events inherited by the Imperial family over the centuries is expected to be carried over as part of Japan’s important cultural assets.

Busy life resumes after end of New Year’s holidays in Japan

Jan. 15, 2010

Busy life resumes after end of New Year’s holidays in Japan


Japanese people are returning to their busy life with worldly cares from the New Year’s holidays. The “dondoyaki” or “dondonyaki” fire festival comes at the end of a string of traditional events and customs for the New Year’s season. The festival is held at shrines, big and small, in various regions and communities around Jan. 15. The event originates from an ancient court rite called “Sagicho” which later spread among the people and became their New Year’s custom.
The holiday season at the start of the year can be defined in many ways. The first day of January is a national holiday in Japan, but government offices and many company offices will close until Jan. 3 and restart their business on Jan. 4. People remove New Year’s decorations placed at the entrance of their houses as a sign to receive the “toshigami” god of the year on Jan. 7. People also eat rice gruel containing the “nanakusa” seven spring herbs on Jan. 7. Then comes the fire festival, which tells people it is time to wind up the festive mood and return to their ordinary life. Many people, young and old, gather with traditional New Year’s decorations made of wood, paper, straws and others and burn them while thanking for the beginning of the good year. Children carry with them branches with small red, green and white balls of rice cakes stuck and broil them with the fire. It is traditionally said that rice cakes broiled with the fire promise good health for the year.

How happy that friends like us cluster together for the fun of it
at the beginning of the New Year!
(A personal translation)

This is a waka poem composed by Prince Funado at a New Year’s party held for his followers. The bright, clear poem was included in Manyoshu, Japan’s oldest waka poem anthology, which was compiled in the late eighth century. Funado was born as an emperor’s grandson, but he got involved in a power struggle and died in prison in 757.
People see their schedule books filled with many jobs and events toward the second half of January. People at businesses are preoccupied with compiling figures for results for the fourth quarter and projecting targets for the fiscal year beginning April. Japan’s parliament will be convened into an ordinary session early next week. Young people are also having an important time for their future this month. About 550,000 high school students will receive nationwide, unified university entrance exams from Jan. 16 to 17. Job-seeking university students are busy writing and sending resumes to companies and organizations amid the unfavorable economic climate. The situation is particularly serious for those who have found no jobs with only two months before their graduation in March.
A recent government survey shows that job offers as of Dec. 1 came at a record low of 73 pct for university students graduating this March. It is hoped that the series of traditional New Year’s events will spirit them up and help explore their path in the future.

Japanese start New Year with prayer for happiness

Jan. 7, 2010

Japanese start New Year with prayer for happiness

Many Japanese start their New Year’s life by paying worship at shrines and temples related to their communities and jobs. Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine of Kamakura, south of Tokyo, attracted hundreds of thousands of worshipers in the first week of the year.

Built by Minamoto Yoritomo, Japan’s first samurai shogun of the late 12th century, the shrine was flooded with so many worshipers that police officers were busy controlling flows of people and vehicles in the neighboring areas. People moved on slowly in a long line on the approach toward the main building of the shrine which stands above a steep stairway. They had to wait for their turn to worship behind a police line set up in front of the stairs.

An elderly person in the crowd was talking to a young guy standing by him “I wonder how many steps are right there. Do you know that, young man?” “I don’t know exactly, but maybe, more than 50, sir. You don’t have to hurry, any way.” After paying worship for the god of the shrine, people draw "omikuji” fortune lots. After reading the sacred oracles written on small pieces of omikuji paper, they fold them and tie them to strings set at several places around the main building.
At Egara Tenjin, a Kamakura shrine which is dedicated to a historical figure admired as the god of scholarship, youngsters, accompanied by their parents, were seen seriously praying for help to pass school entrance exams. Honkakuji Temple, which hosts the Ebisu god of commerce, attracted shopowners and other business-related people hoping to buy “fukusasa” New Year's decorations of bamboo leaves from "fukumusume" maidens.

The New Year has begun today;

snow accumulates to herald the arrival of the new spring.

I wish you an accumulation of happy events

just like the snowfalls.
(A personal translation)

This is a waka poem composed by Otomo Yakamochi, an eighth century court official known as the editor of Japan’s oldest waka poem anthology Manyoshu. Yakamochi was born to a prestigious family, but he lost his position in a feud with his rivals to be demoted to governor of a remote province. The verse, which comes at the end of the 20-volume poem anthology, was made in his days of adversity. He was throwing a New Year’s party for his followers at the governor’s residence. Yakamochi was later called back to the capital, but he could not obtain an influential position.

The more desperate one's fate is, the more seriously he or she prays to the god for help. The severer the economic situation for Japan is, the more people turn out to visit shrines and temples for the New Year’s worship. It is far from certain when Japan will pull out of the current economic woes, but many bright faces were seen among people who braved the chilly weather to visit shrines and temples in Kamakura.