Different religious perspectives, life, death, and the afterlife: There’s room for everything in the Japanese perspective on happiness. Above all, says Japan expert Carmen Rucci from Italy, there is room for joy. And so, this is Carmen’s story.
Image courtesy of Pexels, DsD
An old friend asked me to talk about the pursuit of happiness for Oriental people and for the Japanese in particular. I must make a promise: I love the Japanese people in a visceral and extreme way. I love all their horrible and wonderful contradictions and, therefore, whatever I write will be absolutely biased. This will be, from now on: Japan, according to Carmen.
Breathing in the scents of my green tea, which carry a hint of Tokyo, I try to concentrate on the work in front of me. Writing some words for my friend and former colleague at the London Voice Newspaper, Femke. Images of Tokyo come back to my mind. I watch from my small town in Italy where I live, how a beautiful sunrise in the distance colours a hill that is already illuminated by the lights of a tiny village. It is starting to look like a nativity scene.
Japan: Carmen’s Story
I have lived in Japan before, albeit for a short time. In truth though, even twenty years would not have seemed enough to me. But being able to live among these splendid people, gave me the chance to develop a deeper understanding. Of all the reasons why I love their way of thinking, living and being. And their views on what it means to be happy. There have been billions of practical examples, and I will attempt to share some with you…
Let me start with the Japanese people, the concept of happiness, the Japanese belief system of Shinto, and all the other religions, beliefs, credences and demons, which together are all cheerfully dotted around the Japanese otherworldly universe.
“It’s where religions, beliefs, credences and demons are all cheerfully dotted around a Japanese otherworldly universe.”
Why Shinto?
Religions can be seen as instruments with which human beings try to explain the inexplicable. Life, death and everything in between. They can be used as means and weapons with which people can fight fear, including when in search of happiness. So it is with Shinto.
The last time I was in Japan, I stayed in the centre of one of the most exclusive districts of Tokyo. A family I knew had given me a lovely flat to stay in. One day they took me on a visit to the Nikko temple complex. Inside there is the Toshogu shrine, or temple.
There are many temples in the “Land of the Rising Sun.” But this one is not just a regular temple. People in Japan have dedicated it to the memory of one of the three founders of the nation, Ieyasu Tokugawa. But what is even more amazing to us Westerners, is that it blends effortlessly Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. In addition, the structure shines exuberantly with shades of red, gold and turquoise.
It should be mentioned that foreign tourists are not as taken by the Toshogu shrine as Japanese visitors are. Even the Japanese tour guides, themselves more drawn to the most widespread Zen purism, call its colours excessive. And, to tell the truth, I also felt the same way at first. However, as I wandered around and witnessed the scenery around me, I thought to myself how astounding it all was. All the while taking in the surrounding views of those colourful wooden houses, in themselves a UNESCO heritage.
Good health, luck and happiness
But, let me try to paint you a picture. A stable for sacred horses, the famous three wise monkeys. Colourful feathers and animals of all kinds carved in wood. Rites for people to follow, statues to touch, greetings for the Gods inside the temples. Bows, handclaps, bells to ring, coins to throw. It was all there for good health, luck and happiness!
In the West, going to church can be a serious and solemn experience. But, when Japanese people visit a temple, they are typically happy and in good spirits. So, each religiously faithful person around me would cheerfully be on their tour. Serenely standing in line, or in a crowd, waiting to take pictures of relics or national treasures. Or to buy colourful amulets in the shape of a tea bag.
And so, we all listened to the roar of the dragon. The sound produced by a shaved monk beating two pieces of wood together with intent. He was standing in the centre of the sacred building, all among the wonder of each bystander.
Gods, Saints and tenderness
How to put it into words. A circus, or better still a Shinto amusement park! A cheerful whirlwind of colours, sounds and emotions. Passers-by would pass on things to the statuettes of the Bodhisattva Jizo. Dedicated to the Saint who is there to merrily guide the souls of children who had died too early. Too early to accumulate enough good deeds to be reincarnated. How much tenderness even in explaining the pain.
Superstition! My old religion screamed inside me. So, the word came out of my mouth with sufficiency. It was laid bare unto the soul of my host and guide Kunio. Meanwhile we watched his wife Yoshie and daughter Asuka joyfully walking around a pot-bellied and moss-covered statue. They would be touching its arm, or a leg, or whatever part of their own body they wanted to receive care for. Next to that scene a little smiling stone God among the red autumn trees.
“No, Carmen, it’s not superstition. This too is faith,” my host responded. And as he explained this was all about being carefree, it all felt so joyful to me. So simple, yet so powerfully soothing and healing to the soul. Us Italians or, more generally, Christians, or even rather monotheists, and our spooky, bigoted superiority!
“A cheerful whirlwind of colours, sounds and emotions…How much tenderness even in explaining the pain.”
The Japanese Soul
The Japanese soul, instead, is so vast that it can serenely welcome all the main religions and philosophies. And why not. There is a Japanese saying that goes like this: “The Japanese are born Shinto, marry as Christians and die as Buddhists.” So, births, and the joy of growth in life are all linked to Shinto as a belief system. Not only for human beings, but for all creatures and every element of nature. And that includes even a rice stem.
The Christian wedding, with its fluffy white dress (so indispensable for a princess who respects herself). And that Buddhist diligence that calmly explains the mystery of death and soothes hearts as it does so. It is all incorporated by the Japanese religious ways of being. Both Confucianism and Zen ways of living cross Japanese culture both horizontally and deeply. So deeply that only those that take the time to see it, with a not-so hasty glance, will recognise it.
The mystery of our existence is incomprehensibly vast and frighteningly profound. So much so, that one religion alone cannot, with all its good will, embrace it. Why not follow the wise example of the Japanese perspective, then, also in our pursuit of happiness? This is something I can’t help but wonder since my visits to this magnificent country.
“The mystery of our existence is so incomprehensibly vast and frighteningly profound, that one religion alone cannot, with all its good will, embrace it.”
About Japan expert Carmen Rucci
Carmen Rucci is an Italian writer, lawyer and television critic for Japan’s public media organisation NHK World-Japan. Carmen’s annual expo ‘Japan Unveiled’ takes place every April at Expo Levante, in Bari, Italy. It is a discovery of the Land of the Rising Sun. She is also the author of the novel ‘Tutto in un Anno’, translated into English called ‘All in one year‘, as well as of various theatre plays performed around Bari.
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