The progress of Buddhism in Early Modern Japan was confronted by a difficult and complicated situation caused by Shinto-centralism, the new religious policy enforced by the Meiji government. Because the policy attempted to separate Buddhism from Shinto, the devastation and persecution of Buddhism were extensive. The policy was called Haibutsu kishaku 廃仏毀釈. Although Japanese Buddhism underwent hard times in this period, it returned to a higher status in the social system and became an important center of society. Sueki Fumihiko 末木文美士, an expert on Japanese Buddhism, describes the complicated situation of Modern Japanese Buddhism referring to the dual nature of Modern Japanese Buddhism. Sueki offered his Mei-ken setsu 冥顕説, that describes the external aspect of Modern Japan as Ken 顕, the bright side of society, and the internal is the Mei 冥, the dark side of society. Through the theory of Mei-ken setsu, Sueki explores the internal aspect of modern Buddhism as vanished in the external in terms of modernization in the Meiji era. The typical system of internal Buddhism insisted upon by Sueki is the funeral system. Though a number of people criticized this funeral system, Sueki said that it made an important contribution to revive and to economize Buddhism in Early Modern Japan. Alongside the understanding of the internal aspect of Modern Buddhism in Japan, the funeral system of Buddhism is important for understanding the meaning of death. Therefore, the theory of Mei-ken setsu implies that the understanding of the funeral tradition of Japanese Buddhism is related to the resolution of a big human problem, death. Korean Buddhism also was confronted with the same problem, that is, the practice of funeral rites and the understanding of death as a social issue.
