War Remembrance in Japan’s Buddhist Cemeteries, Part I: Kannon Hears the Cries of WarThe Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue. 31, No. 3, August 03, 2015Brian Victoria
Abstract
While the role of Yasukuni Shrine in both commemorating and eulogizing Japan’s wartime
aggression is well known (and controversial), little to no attention has been paid to a similar role played by a number of Buddhist temples in contemporary Japan. For example, Kōa Kannon (Kannon for a Prosperous Asia) temple (興亜観音寺), located in Atami, a hot-springs resort south of Tokyo, is one such war-eulogizing Buddhist temple. This temple was initially established in the late 1930s at the initiative of Imperial Army General Matsui Iwane, supreme commander of the Japanese attack on Nanjing in December 1937, better known as the "Rape of Nanjing."
In the postwar era, Kannon Bodhisattva, the Buddhist personification of compassion enshrined
at Kōa Kannon, has gone on to become one of the main Buddhist figures employed throughout the country to comfort the “heroic spirits” (eirei) of all Japanese soldiers who died in the war while, at the same time, valorizing and eulogizing the war they fought in. In addition to Kannon-centric temples, the major Shingon sect-affiliated monastic complex on Mt. Kōya now plays a major role in the remembrance of the war dead, including an effort to transform convicted "war criminals" into national “martyrs” (junnan-sha), an effort backed by the current Japanese government. War Remembrance in Japan’s Buddhist Cemeteries, Part II:Transforming War Criminals into Martyrs: “True Words” on Mt. KōyaThe Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue. 34, No. 3, August 24, 2015Brian Victoria |
