Lecture at the Delhi Rotary Club
"A strong cultural and historical bond linking Japan and India"

2006.2.9
Ambassador of Japan, Yasukuni ENOKI

On occasions such as this, I have mostly been requested to speak about Japan-India relations in the field of economy or politics. This time, however, I wish to introduce how strongly our two countries have been historically linked by a cultural bond. You may be surprised to know as to how deeply Indian religion and culture have been rooted in Japanese cultural and social structure over the centuries.

I come from a suburban district of Tokyo named Kichijo-ji town. Though I already had a vague knowledge that Kichijo or Kissho was a Buddhist Bodhisattva, it was only after my arrival here in India that I understood that Kichijo's origin was the Hindu Goddess 'Lakshmi'. Lakshmi was propagated to China along with Buddhism in an ancient time, to be known as Kichijo in its Chinese avatar, and then reached Japan as a Buddhist Goddess. Accordingly, it would be better to state that I come from the Japanese ‘Lakshmi Town’.

We share a broad history of interaction and friendship between our two peoples in the modern period. To cite a few, Rabindra Nath Tagore had very close ties with Japanese philosopher and artist, Tenshin Okakura, in the early 20th century. Friendship between Subhas Chandra Bose and the Japanese people during WWII, as well as the episode of Judge Pal at the WWII War Tribunal, are well documented and provide us with good examples of our close relations. Very few Indian people, however, know that an Indian Buddhist monk had already arrived in Japan in the 8th century, and that our two countries have cherished long cultural bonds over 12 centuries since then. Due to the limitation of time available, I wish to focus upon only a few selected topics in this vein today.

Brahman Buddhist High Priest "Bodhisena" and the Consecrating Ceremony of the Great Buddha of the Todaiji Temple

There are divergent views regarding when Indian people first came to Japan. India maintained its supremacy in maritime transport in the Bay of Bengal and the South East Asian Sea between BC 3rd Century to AD 7th Century, by transforming this part of the sea as the "Lake of Buddhism".

Thus, a big number of Indians migrated to South East Asia and established their community therein. It would be reasonable to assume that certain Indians may have moved further north to Japan from South East Asia through the maritime route, already in an ancient time. The legendary Indian Buddhist saint "Hohdoh" may be one example of this. He is believed to have arrived in Japan in 646 and established the Gion monastery in Banshu (Hyogo Prefecture).

According to a confirmed historical fact, the first Indian person who reached Japan should be Bodhisena, the "Brahman Buddhist High Priest" who assumed the role of ‘Master of Ceremony’ for the Consecrating Ceremony of the Great Buddha at the Todaiji Temple in Nara, in 752. According to the records, he was born in 704 in South India and was invited by Emperor Shomu to visit Japan, during his sojourn at the Godaisan Temple in China. He arrived at Dazaifu Port in Kyushu, Japan, in 736, at the age of only 36. He and his Vietnamese disciple "Buttetsu" were engaged in propagating Buddhism as well as Indian culture, such as Sanskrit, music and dance, among others.

Appreciated for his achievements in Japan, he was honoured as one of the Four Saints of the Todaiji Temple, along with Emperor Shomu, High Priests Gyoki and Roben. While images of the other three saints remain in many paintings or sculptures, there left only two pictures of the image of Bodhisena. After more than 12 centuries having passed, there occurred a spontaneous movement among religious people in Japan, to commemorate and consecrate Bodhisena in the form of a statue. This project was promoted with full support of the Todaiji and came into reality. Thus, a completed statue of Bodhisena was consecrated in 2002 on the occasion of the 1,250 year anniversary of the Great Buddha consecration. Todaiji has a tradition of undertaking a commemoration ceremony of the Great Buddha’s consecration every 50 years. Mrs. Michiyo Uehara, a sculptor-author of Bodhisena, wrote in her manuscript that she sculptured the work with a Bodhisena image in her mind to be a man, who was not only modest and polite in assisting Emperor Shomu from behind, but also self-confident and assertive to successfully undertake a big national project, the consecration of the Great Buddha; as well as very broad-minded to digest every different kind of requests of the people. When I visited Todaiji last October, I myself had a chance to watch closely the statue placed in the hall. The Bodhisena statue had green coloured eyes and a somewhat exotic face, as drawn in the ancient picture. Bodhisena passed away in 760 at the age of 57. A stone tower in Ryosenji Temple in Nara is believed to be his tomb.

Though I have spent many words in introducing Bodhisena, I only wish you to keep in your memory that an Indian Buddhist monk had reached Japan already in the 8th Century after a long and difficult journey crossing the Himalayan mountains and deserts, as well as the rough South-China Sea, and that Japanese people have never forgotten the immense contribution made by this Indian monk, and undertake, even after more than 12 centuries after his death, a ceremony to consecrate his newly sculptured statue to firmly keep his memory fresh in their minds.

The Great Buddha consecration ceremony and ancient dances ('Bugaku' and 'Gigaku')

There remains a record that ancient dances, 'Bugaku' and 'Gigaku', were performed on the occasion of the Great Buddha Consecration ceremony at the Todaiji Temple. Bugaku is considered as a crystallization of various arts of the Silk Road, both dances as well as music. Indian cultural influence is very easily recognized in Bugaku’s structure. For instance, one of the popular stories of Bugaku is the 'Bali Dance', which reproduces the Ramayana's famous story of the fight between Bali and Sugriva in the Kishkindha Forest. The Japanese Imperial system is the world’s oldest existing hereditary monarchy system, having succeeded one generation to another without any interruption over more than 14 centuries. And the Imperial Court is functioning as a time capsule in preserving so many ancient cultures and traditions. ‘Bugaku’ or its transformation ‘Gagaku’ is a typical example of this. The Imperial Court even now has a Gagaku Division, which performs Gagaku as part of its official programs. It is very much interesting to see Indian legendary stories being reproduced nowadays in the Imperial Court in the form of Gagaku performances, which were originally introduced into Japan 12 centuries ago.

'Gigaku' was also performed at the Great Buddha Consecration ceremony and moved spectators to laughter. Gigaku, masked comical dance, was believed to have been very popularly performed at the Todaiji and other temples in Nara in those times. After the Kamakura period (12~14 Century), Gigaku has gradually disappeared, and remains nowadays only in the form of 'Shishi-mai' (Lion's dance, which is performed on the New Year day). Gigaku was, however, revived by volunteers on the occasion of the Great Renovation of the Todaiji Temple in 1980, and also performed again by the Gigaku Club of the Tenri University in 2002 (1,250th anniversary of the Great Buddha Consecration). There remain masks of 'Brahman' as well as 'Garuda' among Todaiji's collection of Gigaku ancient masks, which demonstrate eloquently an Indian influence over Gigaku introduced into Japan.

Together with dance, Indian musical instruments were also introduced into Japan. A typical example is 'Biwa', which originated from the Indian ‘Veena’, which is Goddess Saraswati's favourite musical instrument. The largest lake in Japan, Lake 'Biwa', is named after its close resemblance to the shape of a Biwa. Thus, the Indian ‘Veena’ also became the origin of the name of Japan’s largest lake.

Besides dances and music, many Indian legendary stories were transformed into themes of Kabuki or Noh theaters. For instance, both 'Narukami' of Kabuki and 'Ikkaku-sennin' of Noh have originated from the Indian ‘Mahabharata' story. The story of both Narukami and Ikkaku-sennin is that, while the wizard Narukami succeeded in containing the Naga (Dragon God) in a waterfall basin to result in a long-lasting draught, beautiful ladies dispatched by village people seduced the wizard by their charm to deprive him of his magical powers and released the Naga to bring rainfalls. The literature 'Konjaku-monogatari', written in the 12th century, covers various legendary stories of India, China and Japan. And this work introduced the said Mahabharata story to serve as the basis of 'Narukami' and 'Ikkaku-sennin'. Thus, we, Japanese, have digested many Indian legends without even being conscious of their Indian origin, which now constitute the basis of Japanese literature.

Sanskrit and the Japanese alphabet (Kana)

The Sanskrit language was introduced into Japan in two ways: in the form of Sanskrit studies as such, as well as by means of constituting a basis for creation of the Japanese alphabet. Japanese monks had to study Sanskrit out of the necessity to master Buddhism from the Indian original sutras and textbooks, from the 8th century onwards. For instance, texts of the Prajna Paramitd Sutra, written in Sanskrit, transmitted to the Horyuji Temple, are well known as the world’s oldest existing Tara Patra Sutra (Sutra written in Sanskrit on palm leaves). Sanskrit originally had no script, as an orally communicated language. Sanskrit came to use the Brahmi script in BC 3rd century, and then the Siddham script in AD 3rd century. After the 10th century, the current Devanagari script was developed for Sanskrit. Thus, when Japanese studied Sanskrit from the 8th to 9th centuries, Sanskrit was synonymous with Siddham.

Hence, Buttetsu lectured Siddham studies at the Great Buddha consecration ceremony. Kukai, Japanese high priest, brought back a textbook of Siddham studies with him to Japan from Tang (China). This textbook and Buttetsu's lecture notes have served as the main documents for Siddham studies in Japan until the 19th century. Nowadays, Siddham studies have, except a few cases, almost died and the Siddham script is used basically for writing on the surface of wooden stupas placed at tombs. It is extremely interesting to note that Siddham studies have had a longer life over more than 10 centuries in Japan, even after the Siddham script has almost died in India.

Turning to the relationship between Kana and Sanskrit, when Sanskrit came to China, the Chinese people described Sanskrit sounds through Chinese characters with a similar pronunciation. And then, Japanese digested Sanskrit through simplified Chinese characters, which re developed into the Japanese alphabet, Kana. Accordingly, the structure of sounds of Sanskrit and Japanese Kana are almost alike. In particular, structure and sounds of vowels are almost the same between our two languages. Though China had first-hand contact with Sanskrit, China went without creating any alphabet or phonetic symbols as such. On the other hand, while Japan learnt Sanskrit indirectly through Chinese characters, Japan created its own alphabet, borrowing Sanskrit structure and sounds. This is the secret as to why Indian people can so quickly master the Japanese language and vice-versa.

Gion festival and India

Gion festival of Kyoto is one of the three major festivals of Japan, together with Kanda festival of Tokyo and Tenjin festival of Osaka. Every year, in July, more than half a million people visit Kyoto from every corner of Japan to see the Gion festival. Gion festival really represents the Japanese summer events, but almost none of the Japanese is aware of the fact that this Gion festival started originally to worship the Hindu deity, with prayers to expel epidemics. Gion is the Chinese name of the Indian Jetavana Buddhist Monastery, which was built on the outskirts of Sravasti, the capital of ancient Khosla state, which is Saheth in U.P. State now. It is a very famous anecdote that a rich merchant named 'Sudatta' purchased a piece of land, which was priced as expensive as the gold coins covering the entire surface of the land, and finally built a monastery to welcome Shakyamuni Buddha for his preaching. The Guardian Deity of Jetavana Monastery is Gosheersh, who has the sacred power to expel epidemics. Deity Gosheersh is believed to be originally the Deity of Mount Malaya at the south end of the Eastern Ghats of India.

The legend of Gosheersh was introduced together with Buddhism into Japan, in the ancient times. When epidemics raged throughout entire Kyoto, people prayed to Gosheersh, the Guardian Deity of Gion, for countering epidemics, by marching with 66 tall spears. This was the origin of the Gion festival. Can you imagine that the people of Kyoto have been unconsciously undertaking this festival every year over 10 centuries, to worship the Hindu Deity Gosheersh, with prayers to keep them safe from epidemics? Our close relationship with India does not stop here. The main feature of Gion festival is a parade of 31 giant chariots (wheeled floats) through Kyoto’s boulevards. The origin of this giant chariot parade is undoubtedly the Hindu Yatra with great chariots. If you go to Kyoto in July, you will notice that the Gion Yatra is an exact copy of the Rath Yatra of Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa.

Indian textile and Gion festival

Do you happen to know that a piece of Indian cotton textile imported into Japan in the 17th century is still now treasured, and used once a year as the ornamental screen of a Gion Yatra chariot? Last October, I visited with Mr. Yukio Yoshioka, a very famous dyeing master, the Minami-Kannonyama Gion Association, which is one of 31 Associations supporting the Gion festival. This visit was to inspect a piece of Indian textile, which was donated by Shoubei Fukuroya, a rich merchant of Kyoto, in the 17th century. While it requires a special permission of all the board members to take out this textile from storage, key board members were already waiting for me with the textile displayed in a special room. This piece is about 3 meters by 4 meters in size, and designed with pine trees and cranes, symbols of longevity in Japan. Since this piece is hanged down on a chariot during the Gion Yatra, a large part of it is already discoloured. But some part, which is protected against the sunrays by another screen, is very clear in its colours even now, reminding us of its original fine work.

After my return to New Delhi, I had a chance to see the Tapi Collection displayed at the National Museum, which is a private collection of antique Indian cotton textiles exported everywhere in the world between the 13th to the 19th centuries. To my great surprise, I found a piece of textile of almost the same design as that of the Minami-Kannonyama in Kyoto. This piece of 'Palampore' (a bed cover) was made in the Coromandel Coast and exported to the Dutch market in the 18th century. According to the owner of this collection, Mr. Praful Shah, these were products that Dutch merchants ordered from the Indian textile industry, to make as per Japanese designs. In the European market, Japanese-inspired designs were already becoming popular as an early form of Japonisme. In introducing this anecdote, I wish you to well recognize the long lasting cultural bond between our two countries from the beginning of the Gion festival to worship the Indian Deity, Gosheersh, in the 9th century, through the possession of a piece of Indian cotton textile as an ornamental screen of the Gion chariot in the 17th century to the 21st century, when this piece is still in popular use for the Gion Yatra. According to Mr. Y. Yoshioka, besides this piece, the Tsuchihoko Association of the Gion Festival Federation also possesses, as an ornament of a chariot, a red coloured carpet made in Lahore during the Mugahl Empire period.

Today, India is referred to as an IT software power, but not yet so much as a manufacturing power. I believe, however, in the revival of India as a manufacturing Super Power that once dominated the world manufacturing industries with the superb quality of its cotton textiles. It seems that India simply lagged behind a bit in the world competition of manufacturing due to 'the Lost Two Centuries' of colonial rule. Under the economic liberalization policy, I am sure India will regain its manufacturing great talent already testified by history, and will soon become a world manufacturing Super Power.

Indian cotton textile was the integration of high quality fabrics, artistic designs, and the world’s best dyeing technology, and established its predominance as second-to-none in the world market. In the 17th and 18th century Europe, in particular, Indian cotton textiles caused a fervent boom in the society and changed drastically the European dress culture, which used to be dependent upon leather and wool. Behind the power shift from Netherlands to British Empire in the Indian Ocean trade, there was a shift of European consumers' demand from spice to cotton textiles, over which the British Empire had a strong grip through colonized India.

All through the history from the ancient Rome B.C., when a Roman leader deplored the massive outflow of gold to fill the deficit of its trade with the Indian Ocean world, up to the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century in England, the Indian Ocean trade had always been a huge deficit on the European and Mediterranean world side. It took as long as one century for Europe to catch up with Indian textile industries from the 17th to 18th century. 'The great shock from the Orient' of high manufacturing technology was behind the occurrence of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

Japan was also a beneficiary of importing Indian textiles through Dutch merchants in the 17th and the 18th century. Besides the donation to Gion festival, as I quoted earlier, many pieces of Indian textiles were brought in the possession of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as well as many Daimyo (feudal lords) families such as Hosokawa, Date, Maeda, and so forth. These pieces are still kept as family treasures until now by those families. Though differing in materials, cotton or silk, Indian dyeing technology exercised great influence over Japanese dyeing, such as 'Yuzen-zome'.

Hindu Deities and Japan

As I come from the Japanese 'Lakshmi Town', it is a great surprise to find Japanese life surrounded with so many Hindu Deities, without any consciousness about the same. Since these Hindu Deities were introduced into Japan through China with Chinese names, Japanese people are simply unaware about their origins. For instance, 'Taishaku-ten', famous for the popular comic film 'Tora-san', is nothing but Indra. Likewise, 'Kompira', attracting so many worshippers, is Kumbhira. 'Ben-ten is Saraswati, the Deity of academics and arts.

While temples in Kyoto and Nara are full of Hindu Deities everywhere, if you have a chance to visit Kyoto, I wish to recommend you to visit the 'Sanju-Sangen-Do' monastery. This monastery is famous for its 1,001 units of Sahastrabhuja Bodhisattva (with thousand hands) installed in the hall. You will discover that all of 28 Guardian Deities are Hindu Deities, such as Indra, Brahma, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Siva, and so forth. The English notes attached to every statue enable you to compare the Japanese or Chinese names of the Deities with original Hindu names.

Concluding words

Japanese people have very often used an expression "the best among three countries" as a meaning of the world’s best, because the world was synonymous with Japan, China and India in the old epoch. Dengyo-Daishi used this expression in his work, and this expression became already popular in the 12th century.

Tenjiku, the Japanese ancient name for India, has always been a place evoking admiration in the Japanese people’s minds. Prince Takaoka, a grandson of Emperor Kanmu, first traveled to China with a strong determination to reach Tenjiku, the country of Shakyamuni Buddha, and then departed China for India by taking the maritime route in 865. He failed, however, to reach India (Tenjiku) and passed away during the journey, in Raetsu country, which is now known as Singapore. In the 13th century, High Priest Meikei similarly planned to visit India. But he could not, after all, realize his travel plans due to the tremendous difficulties one had to face for travelling abroad during his era. While he passed his life in meditation sitting on a tree branch, there left some papers on which he had written about his plans to travel to India, with very detailed and precise itinerary in days and distance required to move from one station to another. In the Edo Era (17th ~ 19th centuries), a book based on a travel report named “The Story of Tokubei Tenjiku-ya” was a bestseller of that period. This book gave an account of the travels of a Japanese named Tokubei, who twice visited India. The destination he really visited, however, was not India but most probably Thailand. Thus, until the Tensho Boys’ Christian delegation stopped over in Goa on their way to Europe in 1582, none of the Japanese could ever reach India.

The Asia of the 21^st century is now about to face a new “Three Countries’ Epoch” with the upsurge of China and India, besides Japan. We can safely state that the stability and prosperity of Asia depends, to a great extent, upon the cooperative relations of these three major powers of the region.

Japan and India are steadily strengthening their strategic partnership by activating political level exchanges and mutual cooperation in a number of fields. Economic relations between our two countries are also witnessing a very rapid development in recent years, with the growing “Indian Boom” in Japan. If bilateral relations were only based upon politics and economics, these relations would, however, be fragile and not last very long. While a long-term framework of relations should be consolidated for a long lasting friendship between the two countries, I believe that a strong cultural and people-to-people bond should be the most important to this end. Making use of this golden chance of the prevailing excellent relations between our two countries, we now have to make our best efforts to renew our recognition of the rich and long history of the cultural bond linking Japan and India, as well as to build new consolidated friendly relations towards the future, on top of the solid foundations of our strong cultural ties of the past.

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