Oftentimes, when one lives within a large city, it is easy to get lost in its hustle and bustle, to be absorbed in the urban beast. Urban areas are their own worlds, composed of a culture and a system often wholly separate from the rest of the country. These centers of culture, finance, and politics seem self-contained. Everything needed to sustain their population seems to be abundant within their boundaries. However, in these conglomerations of glass, concrete, and steel, it may be difficult to see past the urbanity and modernity and spot glimpses of any kind of religious tradition.
Tokyo is an example of such a city, and the fact that the Japanese as a whole generally consider themselves to be an a-religious people heightens that reality. While it is certainly not the case that the urban center of Tokyo is devoid of temples or shrines, it seems that in order to find some semblance of “traditional” religiosity, one must venture outside of the business-oriented capital. As a result, I really wanted to break out of the “center” and venture into the periphery. I hoped to find a more traditionally-rooted Japan in the process. It was through this motivation that I began my plans for expanding into this “periphery,” starting with my day trip to the town of Toro in Saitama Prefecture.
Before going into my day trip, however, I would like to discuss why exactly the Japanese people consider themselves a-religious. After all, it is clear that many Japanese people frequent shrines and temples, and that Shinto and Buddhism are a part of their lives. The reason is that Japanese people view being “religious” as a consistent kind of commitment, a kind of loyalty to a spiritual ideology that encompasses one’s entire person and life. This kind of image is primarily associated with the Abrahamic faiths. Furthermore, while shrines and temples, and thus Shinto and Buddhist practices, have existed in Japan throughout its history, the concept of “religion” was a modern term adopted and translated into Japanese (shūkyō, 宗教) from the West at the end of the nineteenth century. Consequently, there is already some kind of subconscious distance from the concept of “religion.” It makes sense that the Japanese view the Shinto and Buddhist practices as cultural customs rather than subscribed religious practices.
In my mini-trip to Saitama, I ventured out to the small city of Toro, which contains what is called the Bonsai Village (bonsaimura, 盆栽村). By first visiting the museum in the village, I was able to learn about the art of bonsai, and its different styles. But why were this museum and village dedicated to bonsai so far out, away from the city, where they might get more recognition? As it turned out, it was because during the Showa Period (mid-twentieth century), due to Tokyo’s then-urban pollution, conditions were unsuitable to the nurturing of trees and the art of bonsai. Consequently, a group of artists’ families, committed to the continuation of this craft, decided to move out to Saitama, where natural conditions were still untainted. These families established a village dedicated to the cultivation of bonsai, thus starting the Bonsai Village that exists in Toro today.
As one walks around the town, it is clear that the art of bonsai is very much alive, flourishing in its historical “gardens” that nurture bonsai-style trees, or just in the gardens of people’s homes. The bonsai is an art that requires much commitment and patience, as well as a craft that deepens one’s appreciation for and knowledge of nature and beauty. Thus, the bonsai evokes a sense that seems parallel to that of religious commitment in the West. Because of this reality, in Japan the commitment and attitudes that one might associate with religious practice in the West often find an outlet in traditional culture instead. It is this preservation of traditional culture, along with the virtues and knowledge that it cultivates, that reflects a part of the core values of the Japanese. While it is not a “religion” in the Western sense, I believe that there is still much that we can learn from observing such traditions.