Economist: FAR from preaching abstinence from earthly pleasures, the Buddhist priests behind the counter of Vowz, a Tokyo bar, encourage the opposite. There are different paths to Buddha, says Yoshinobu Fujioka, the head priest, as he pours a gin and tonic for a customer. “Spiritual awakening can come in any conversation. We provide that opportunity.”
Such are the doctrinal contortions that Buddhists in Japan sometimes practise in their struggle to remain relevant. Some of the nation’s 77,000 Buddhist temples run cafés, organise fashion shows or host funerals for pets. Still, hundreds close every year. By 2040, 40% may have gone, laments Hidenori Ukai, the author of a new book on the crisis in Japanese Buddhism.
You might think that funerals would keep modern temples busy. Nearly 1.3m people died last year in Japan (a post-war record); Buddhism has for centuries been the religion of choice at funerals and in spiritual care for the bereaved. But with costs often in the region of ¥3m ($24,700), funerals in Japan are among the priciest in the world. Cremation is followed by a ritual in which the bereaved use chopsticks to pluck the charred bones of their loved ones from a tray and place them in an urn. A priest mumbles incantations and bestows a posthumous name. It’s all rather elaborate.
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