Abstract
This article discusses the economic role played by lay members (monshinto 門信徒) of Japanese Buddhist congregations in the “modernization” of those organizations, using the example of the Honganji Faction of the Jodo Shinshu Sect (aka the Nishi-Honganji Congregation).
Buddhist congregations during the Meiji Era, which found themselves not only bereft of the special privileges they enjoyed under the Tokugawa Bakufu, but also in direct competition with Christianity, were faced with the new problem of having to financially support themselves by forming lay “congregations bound by moral obligation.” And in order to solve the difficult practical problem of combining economic viability with spirituality, these congregations embarked on “modernization” projects involving evangelism, indoctrination and philanthropy projects. It was the Nishi-Honganji Congregation which became especially proactive in such efforts, and as a result rapidly expanded its organization.
By basing its sole source of funding on tithes (kisha 喜捨) from its lay members, Nishi-Honganji was able to minimize the damaging effects of the post-Meiji Restoration efforts to break up the traditional proprietorships held by temples and shrines since antiquity, while in so doing taking great risk in relying on one single source of revenue. Congregations operating within such a fiscal structure to promote their “modernization” projects were in constant danger of bankruptcy. Although the temple headquarters (honzan 本山) made attempts at restructuring, such as setting up religious foundations, the fundamental framework of reliance on tithes from the laity remained in tact. The leading members of the congregation who participated in the temple’s fiscal administration were those experiencing the difficulties involved in expanding religious projects within that framework.
In response, these leaders began to adopt measures for enhancing the earning power of congregation members to allow them to endure the heavy requests for tithes and other contributions. Two such measures were the founding of the Shinshu-Shinto Life Insurance Co., Ltd in April 1895 and the Kigyo Bank in March of the following year by congregation leader Shinagawa Yajiro, Kataoka Masaji and their business associates in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in conjunction with entrepreneurs in the Kyoto-Osaka region. The establishment of financial institutions with the investment capital and managerial know-how of leading members, who had no ecclesiastical standing in the temple, but neither were disinterested venture capitalists, not only succeeded in stabilizing and improving the earning power of lay congregation members, but at the same time proved to be a game-changing method for achieving “economic viability with spirituality,” by eliminating the risks of total fiscal dependence on the lay congregation in the temple’s “modernization” efforts.
