Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

J A TAKA
(1053–1129) established magnificent temples and
multiple stupas as expressions of his grace, and his
son Toba (1103–1156)—on better terms with the
Fujiwaras—established the Shokomyo’in chapel and
treasury (ho zo ) near Kyoto, housing a Buddhist scriptural
collection and other treasures in apparent imitation
of the Fujiwara chapel Byodo’in, also near
Kyoto, which similarly featured an Amidist sanctuary
and a scriptural treasury (kyo zo ). This “royal culture”
of powerful aristocrats and cloistered sovereigns, particularly
with its emphasis on demonstrating largess
and religious devotion as well as an increasing interest
in acquiring knowledge of esoteric Buddhism—and
influence over the clerical appointment system—was
one of the primary factors that influenced Tendai and
Shingon monks and temples of the medieval era. Under
this influence, Buddhists increasingly sought to
produce large iconographic collections (the first, Zuzo
sho [ca. 1135–1141], was reputedly produced by order
of Toba), to establish large treasuries of scriptures and
other objects, and to specialize in particular tantric
rites (shuho ) of concern to the royal family.
Buddhist accession rites and Shinto
Moreover, during the same period, particularly in the
O’muro at Ninnaji, the enriching of esoteric Buddhist
teachings with worship of native deities produced
novel teachings and ritual practices that attempted to
confer legitimacy on the ruler, and were later referred
to as Goryu Shinto. At the latest, by Go-Uda’s accession
(late thirteenth century), the ruler often underwent
an esoteric Buddhist consecration rite (sokui
kanjo ) as part of the accession process. The initiation
of retired tenno Go-Daigo in the fourteenth century
into what would later be deemed the “controversial”
Tachikawa line of Shingon was, indeed, an elaboration
of this trend. Moreover, the first use of the term Shinto
was established in and through the so-called kenmitsu
institutions of Shingon and Tendai. Even the
emphasis on the three royal regalia was forged in the
milieu of those institutions to legitimize royal rule
amidst the impending split into rival lines: The jewel
(magatama) was newly emphasized and was commonly
compared to the wish-fulfilling jewel and Buddha
relics of the treasuries of esoteric temples such as
the Shingon temple Toji.
In spite of the rising prominence of nativist scholars
such as Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), the royal
family remained devoted Buddhists until the Meiji
restoration in 1868, when mid-level samurai returned
the Japanese government from Tokugawa warrior rule
to royal rule in the name of the tenno . Rituals such as
the Latter Seven-Day Rite were no longer held in the
palace, and any public relationship between the royal
family and the Buddhist community was dissolved—a
government policy that has continued to the present.
See also: Aśoka; Meiji Buddhist Reform; Nationalism
and Buddhism; Politics and Buddhism; Tachikawaryu
Bibliography
Abe Yasuro. “Hoju to O ken: chusei to mikkyo girei” (Jewels and
royal authority: esoteric Buddhist rites and the medieval era).
In Iwanami ko za to yo shiso 16: Nihon shiso 2. Tokyo: Iwanami
Shoten, 1989.
Abe Yasuro. “Shukaku hosshinno to inseiki no bukkyo bunka”
(The prince-monk Shukaku and the Buddhist culture of
the cloistered-rule era). In Inseiki no bukkyo , ed. Hayami
Tasuku. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1998.
Amino Yoshihiko. “Igyo no O ken: Go-Daigo/Monkan/Kenko”
(Awful royal authority: Go-Daigo/Monkan/Kenko). In
Igyo no O ken. Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1987.
Kamikawa Michio. “Accession Rituals and Buddhism in Medieval
Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 17, no.
2/3 (1990): 243–280.
Maki Toshiyuki. “Go-Uda tenno no mikkyo juho” (The ruler
Go-Uda’s initiation into esoteric Buddhism). In Kodai/
chu sei no shakai to kokka, ed. Osaka Daigaku Bungakubu Nihonshi
Kenkyushitsu. Osaka, Japan: Seibundo, 1998.
Okano Koji. “Mudoen senji/isshin ajari/sozu chokunin” (Royal
orders without official monastic identification/aristocraticappointed
acaryas/directly-appointed bishops). In Inseiki no
bukkyo , ed. Hayami Tasuku. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan,
1998.
Ruppert, Brian D. Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power
in Early Medieval Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Asia Center and Harvard University Press, 2000.
Uejima Susumu. “Fujiwara no Michinaga to insei: Shukyo to
seiji” (Religion and politics: cloistered rule and Fujiwara no
Michinaga). In Chu sei ko bu kenryoku no ko zo to tenkai, ed.
Uwayokote Masataka. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 2001.
JA TAKA
BRIAN O. RUPPERT
Jataka is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a particular
genre of Buddhist literature. A jataka is a story in which
one of the characters—usually the hero—is identified
as a previous birth of the historical Buddha, generally
appearing as a man, a deity, or one of the higher ani-
400 E NCYCLOPEDIA OF B UDDHISM