The Early Introduction of Buddhism and Conflicts with the Native Religion

Buddhism was introduced from Korea to Japan first unofficially and then officially during the sixth century. According to the court annals Nihon-gi, in 552 the king of Paekche sent an embassy to the Yamato court (in central Japan) with presents, including a Buddhist statue and sutras.^[706] However, some thirty years earlier a Korean guild of saddlers (kura-be) had settled in the realm of the Soga clan in the Yamato region who adhered to Buddhism.^[707] Their craft not only consisted of the skills to treat wood, leather and metal, but enabled the advanced technique of warfare on horseback.

According to the Nihon-gi, from 552 conflicts arose repeatedly about the worship of the ‘foreign deity' (atashikuni no kami) as the Buddha was referred to. The Mononobe and Nakatomi clans insisted that the court should follow only the traditional worship of the ‘Japanese deities' (kunitsu kami), whereas the Soga clan defended the introduction of the Buddha.^[708] The Soga argued that advanced countries such as Korea and China were venerating the Buddha, therefore the Yamato kingdom should not stay behind. When plagues broke out, the traditionalists took them as signs of divine warnings and urged the emperor to order the destruction of Buddhist worship. The Buddha hall was burned and the Buddha statue thrown into the Naniwa canal. Thus, religious dissent among the clan chiefs evolved into a violent conflict. The same sequence of Buddha worship, plague and destruction occurred again in 584.7 Later, however, when the emperor's servants suffered from diseases, he permitted the private worship of the Buddha.

Since the Mononobe and Nakatomi continued to oppose the introduction of Buddhism, the religious struggle evolved into an open war in 587. The Soga warriors carved wooden figures of the Shi-tenno, the divine guardian kings protecting Buddhism in the four cardinal directions, fixed them on their heads, and prayed for divine help. People of these times believed that physical warfare on the ground was accompanied by spiritual warfare between the deities, and it was the latter who decided victory and defeat. Owing to the superior spiritual powers and the advanced military techniques of

the Buddhist saddlers, the Soga clan finally defeated the Mononobe and Nakatomi clans and secured the Buddha worship. The Soga fulfilled their vow to reward the Shi-tenno with the construction of a temple, the famous Shitenno-ji (in present-day Osaka). After the Soga had defeated the Mononobe, they began to exert influence at court.^[709] As a result, the emperor also adopted Buddhism in addition to kami-worship.