An inquiry into the social relationships of a Japanese village
 

As soon as it was obvious that the class would be directed so that each of us would be able to pursue our own interests I knew what my agenda was to be. Well maybe not decisively, there was a time when I would have been content just reading the interesting articles that came my way.

It soon came time to focus my inquiry to a specific area of interest. I chose first of all Japan, for several reasons some were out of personal interest, and prior knowledge hinted this may be the way to go. What I was interested in was the relationship between state and religion. Throughout my life I heard echoed again and again that religion has no place in politics. There are many historical examples in every empire where religious ideology has led the people of that nation to peril, well that's the way those who are opposed to the relationship foretell any such union.

Just around the time I was to start searching for a topic I could explore there were some developments in the USA that got me to at least try to find out more about the subject. I still have my views on this but I don't expect to gain much more insight on it when I look at the Japanese parallels. What I wanted to find was by no means an answer to the debate, no even a small sign of some costs/benefits that exist between the two would do.

I found what I was looking for in a book called Religious Conflict and Compromise in a Japanese Village, A first hand observation of the Tenrikyo Church. The book documents the entry of a new Japanese religion into a tight knit farming community named Sakodo. The religion Tenrikyo is a new religion and has suffered a lot of persecution in it's short existence. The church's acceptance is not made any easier by it's strict social policy.

In the east the various religions seem to co-exist peacefully amongst each other. The tiny village Sakodo had the forms of all the major Japanese religions present, and practiced them on a regular basis. The harmony is disrupted when Tenrikyo enters the village in 1888. Only 50 years after the founding of the religion by Nakayama Miki. The religion managed to spread very fast and surprised many a person. Right away the villagers were reluctant to allow the religion into Sakodo.

The first chapter of the study gives a brief background of the religion, it's history and doctrine.

The descriptions are verily brief and lead into the many social mechanisms within the religion. From the hierarchy that exists in the religion, to the upward flow of money, to the strict devotion that is required of the followers.

The spiritual head of the Tenrikyo religion is the patriarch who is linked directly to the immediate family of the foundress. At the time of study the church was on it's third patriarch who was the grandson of the foundress. In each church the priest is considered a father. While the priests of the branch churches look towards the priest of the grand church as their parent figure. The patriarch, Shimbashira is the supreme parent figure. The Shimbashira is the highest authority in the Tenrikyo religion. There were some situations that the author spoke of the Patriarch wanting her to do something for him, not so much a favor, as a command. Some times the author would refuse and found herself shunned by the high priests. Being allowed to study the inner workings of the Tenrikyo religion was contingent on her attending ceremonies, each week, being schooled in the doctrine and participating in certain events. The whole time she was in the city headquarters of Tenri the church was trying to convert her.

In Tenri the headquarters of the religion which is situated on the property of the Nakayama family has grown considerably in the last hundred years. The old property before the existence of the town was a field that was near a village of about twenty or thirty homes. Now it is a city of 150,000, eighty percent of whom are members of the Tenrikyo religion. The major community institutions, the schools, from elementary to post secondary, the library, the hospital, and a publishing house are owned by the church.

The second chapter gave an account of the social, economic, and political aspects of the village. Sakodo being the tiny remote village that it is depends on unity among the villagers in order survive. The major source of sustenance in the village are the fruits of agriculture. The farming season requires a combined group collaboration in order to efficiently coordinate the harvest. The crops have to be irrigated with the nearby river. There are several other villages that use the river for the same purpose at that time. So timing is important in order to ensure a good start on the harvest. Most of the work that occurs in the community is paid for through a tax system and up kept by the village workers. They are also part of the amalgamated city of Minakuchi which helps pay for some of the repairs on the bridge and the roads. The village besides sending a representative to Minakuchi, has it's own town council with a head and some other members from the different neighborhood groups. The town hall is not necessarily a policy making body as it is a place to discuss the village affairs.

The are several different religions in Sakodo. There is a Shinto shrine located on the outskirts of the village. There is a Buddhist temple centered in the village. The worship of the Shinto god who looks after the villagers lives has become less relied on. Some of the practices are now done in the Buddhist temple for convenience. There is also a shrine located in the nearby mountain. The deity of this shrine is the protector of the mountain and a fertility god. The use of this shrine has become less frequent than in the early days of the village. The shrine is though by no mean neglected, some of the men's activities still include the shrine.

Another form of social institutions are the various groups. One is the Woman's Association which includes every woman in the community. Another is the monthly meeting of the men at the town center, which ends with a sake party. There are also many holidays and various theme celebrations throughout the year.

The third chapter chronicles the entry of the Tenrikyo religion into the village. As the title of the book leads you to believe there is a conflict of interests between the new religion and the rest of the village. It came to the point that any members of the Tenrikyo faith were ostracized, and ignored. This treatment continued on for a short while and was resolved before the onset of spring. The author figures the main point of resolution was due to the upcoming planting season. This may not have been the case if the most prominent member of the Tenrikyo faith was a large land owner who had some property along the bank of the river. During the conflict only two members of Tenrikyo revoked their belief.

The opposition against Tenrikyo was channeled through the Buddhist religion. It may have seemed like a battle of religious truths but turned out to be a convenient and obvious form of opposition. The fear and suspicion that Tenrikyo seemed to bring with it to the village and where ever it went in Japan was what upset the village. These concerns were not unfounded, I found much of the Tenrikyo practices offensive. With it's high emphasis on missionary work, and strict devotion, and a need for complete acceptance of it's doctrine.

The new common ground that the village comes upon is not only something that was needed in this threatening situation but a character inherent in most Japanese villages. This is the one point that Chinnery made that I think best points to the reason for the final resolution. She wrote, "On the other hand we may say that the need for cooperative endeavor ,in say, agriculture is not a cause but a result of the social cohesion."

A further example of the cohesion that exists is the respect for the older members of the household. Each house has a recognizable leader who is known to oversee the issues in the household. This position demands unquestionable compliance to the other members of the household. This mentality extends itself to the community itself.

The final acceptance of Tenrikyo into this village shows a few important points. Tenrikyo which is itself a separate social system stressing it's own obligations left the members with a dilemma. Either choose the way of the church an institution whose limited support is obvious. Or the friendship of those who you have know for a lifetime. When put this way the choice seems obvious. This is not suffice though, many a community has been divided by the persuasion of a belief. The size of the community and the social ties that had already existed were everywhere. Marriage and family obligations, farming, and the various village groups. When the initial conflict occurred the people of Sakodo were shown just how dependant their lives were on social harmony.

Any of the information that appears here comes from the book Religious Conflict and Compromise in a Japanese Village. This case study was written by Thora E. Chinnery.