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Hinduism, unlike the closely related Buddhism, is a minority religion in Japan. Even so, Hinduism has played a somewhat significant role in Japanese culture.
Japanese Hinduism
There are a relatively small number of Hindus found throughout Japan. Currently there are 4,000 registered Hindus in Japan, with about one third located in the Kansai area and living in Kobe where they remain the third largest foreign community aside from the Chinese and Koreans. Historically, the arrival of Hindus and other Indians began at about the 1870's, when Indians arrived to Yokohama (specifically to Osaka, center of the textile trade) where they began a highly profitable business exporting textiles and silk yarn to India and importing cotton yarn to be manufactured in Japan, which eventually made textiles one of Japan's largest and cheapest imports and exports around the world. However this rising Indian immigration ceased at about the 1980's when competing cheap labor from third-world countries caused the textile industry to decline in Japan. Even so Indians found work in other fields, such as in the rising synthetic textiles industry (which remains profitable especially in Dubai where such textiles are needed for the traditional Islamic burka dress.
However on the other hand, Japanese Hinduism does continually suffer from ethnic stereotypes. Little understanding of foreign cultures have led many of the Japanese into identifying Hindus and India as a whole primarily as a caste system-based nation of “cow-worshiping snake charmers and peasants”. Though globalization and the rise of India as an industrial world power have eased such stereotypes, Hindu stereotypes still remains a major obstacle for Hinduism in Japan.
Cultural impacts
Even though Hinduism may not be as popular in Japan as other religions, Hinduism still had a significant, but indirect role in Japanese culture. This is mostly due to the fact that many Buddhist and Hindu related beliefs and traditions spread to Japan through China and Korea in the 6th Century. One primary indication of this is the Japanese "Seven Gods of Fortune", of which three originated as Hindu deities, including Bensaitensama (Sarasvati), Bishamon (Vaisravana), and Daikoku (Mahakali). Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries, mainly via the Chinese translations of the Sutra of Golden Light (金光明経), which has a section devoted to her. She is also mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. In Japan, the lokapala are known as the Four Guardian Gods (四天王). The Sutra of Golden Light became one of the most important sutras in Japan because of its fundamental message, which teaches that the Four Guardian Gods protect the ruler who governs his country in the proper manner. The Hindu god of death, Yama, is known as Enma. Garuda, the mount(vahanam) of Vishnu, is known as the Karura (迦楼羅), an enormous, fire-breathing creature in Japan. It has the body of a human and the face or beak of an eagle. Tennin originated from the apsaras. It should also be noted that in Japan that the Hindu Ganesha is displayed more than Buddha in a famous temple in Futako Tamagawa, Tokyo. Other examples of Hindu influence on Japan include the belief of "six schools" or "six doctrines" as well as use of Yoga and pagodas.
External links
- http://www.atributetohinduism.com/India_and_China.htm#India's%20influence%20on%20Japan
- http://www.atributetohinduism.com/Suvarnabhumi.htm
- http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/I-R/pdf/45-Veliath.pdf
- http://www.friesian.com/six.htm
- http://www.japanfile.com/culture_and_society/cross-culture/Indians-1.shtml
