Speech of Tsunekiyo Tanaka

Thank you for that kind introduction. I am Tsunekiyo Tanaka, the president of Jinja Honchō. I am here as the representative of the native religious tradition of Japan, Jinja Shinto. Today, there are around 80,000 jinja, sacred spaces of Shinto, in Japan. Jinja Honchō is an umbrella organisation for those jinja, and works day by day to preserve and pass on our traditions, particularly our religious traditions, to the next generation. It is a great honour to have the opportunity to speak here today.

 

Further, I would like to express my deepest respect for the past record of the Community of Sant’Egidio. I am delighted to be able to join with all those gathered here today in our shared goal of achieving global peace.

 

In recent years, regions across the world have seen extreme heat, extreme rainfall and flooding, and wildfires occur with great frequency, and people are sounding the alarm that we have left the age of global warming and already entered “the age of global boiling”. Japan is no exception, with exceptional heatwaves and disastrous flooding seeming to happen many times every year. I, as well as being the president of Jinja Honchō, also serve as the chief priest of Iwashimizu Hachimangū. This jinja, where my ancestors have served for generations, has, across history, been particularly revered by the Tennō, the emperors of Japan, as a guardian against floods, famine, and epidemics. The reverence shown by the Tennō has been second only to that shown to the jinja enshrining their ancestor, Ise Jingū, which is recognised as worthy of a different quality of respect from the other jinja of Japan. Thus, when these natural disasters are happening right before my eyes, I feel a deep sense of crisis. Why have we found ourselves in such a state? Is this not the result of the unnecessary and excessive development that we have advanced in our unbridled pursuit of material prosperity? Can the spirit of Shinto not offer us a hint on how to live together with nature in the face of the global environmental crisis?

 

There are many jinja, the sacred sites of Shinto, to be found across Japan, but, as I mentioned earlier, one of them has always been regarded as particularly worthy of respect. This is Ise Jingū, which enshrines the ancestor of the Imperial family. At Ise Jingū, the cycle of rituals has been performed without fail for two millennia. Among those rituals, the largest is the one called the Shikinen Sengū. In this rite, held every twenty years, the sanctuaries are rebuilt and the kami, the sacred beings enshrined there, are invited to move to the new structures. This ritual began in the seventh century, and has been passed on for over 1,300 years; it has no parallel in the world. In April this year, preparations for the next Shikinen Sengū formally began, and over the next nine years the new sanctuaries and new sacred treasures for the kami will be prepared. As the sanctuaries at Ise Jingū are constructed of wood, large quantities of Japanese cypress, and other woods, are required, but this timber is harvested from mountains owned by Jingū. Thus, Jingū, thinking of future Shikinen Sengū, plants trees on these mountains every year, to raise a beautiful forest. The bountiful water that flows down from these mountains purifies the bodies and souls of those who visit to venerate the kami, and nourishes the rice and vegetables grown in Jingū’s fields. These are offered to the kami every day, with gratitude for these blessings. Further, the timber in the old sanctuaries, from which the kami has moved, is certainly not thrown away. Instead, it is used to build new sanctuaries at jinja with links to Jingū, and to construct the torii gates that mark the entrance to the sacred precincts of Jingū. Further, the timber used for the torii is reused once more at the following Shikinen Sengū, erected once more in a different location. The materials are recycled with great thoroughness. Even before the word “recycle” had been invented, Jingū was an embodiment of a sustainable cyclical society, part of the natural cycle. This cyclical organisation is in no way limited to Jingū, but rather is firmly rooted in the religious traditions we Japanese have inherited from our ancestors.

 

From ancient times, the Japanese have lived in close contact with nature, through agriculture and fishing, particularly the raising of rice. The power of nature, while bringing blessings to people on the one hand, also shows a fierce side in heavy rains and violent winds. People saw the presence of kami in these natural phenomena about which they could do nothing. Further, they believed that kami dwelt in pure mountains and rivers, trees, rocks, and all aspects of nature. Thus, the Japanese have always seen themselves as part of the natural world, and maintained a respectful heart filled with awe for the great power of nature and gratitude for the blessings that it brings. The tradition built on the foundation of this attitude of awe and gratitude towards nature is Jinja Shinto.

 

Through this distinctive view of the sacred, the Japanese have lived together with nature. They have gratefully accepted nature’s blessings, and in return cherished and protected it. Japanese traditional architecture, like the structures of Jingū, is made of wood, and the trees for that timber are felled in the mountains. When those trees are felled, prayers of thanks are offered to the kami of the mountains and the trees. This attitude leads people to preserve the mountains, and plant trees where they have felled them, working for the regeneration of the landscape. In Shinto, it has been thought that the preservation of bountiful mountains is connected to the preservation of bountiful seas. From verdant mountains flow rivers laden with nutrients, which nurture the life of the seas that they reach. Bountiful seas offer their blessings to us. We have lived in this harmony with nature.

 

Further, just like Ise Jingū, the sanctuaries of most jinja in Japan are surrounded by woodland. They vary greatly in size, but these woodlands form part of the sacred precincts, and are called “chinju no mori”. The Japanese have passed on the natural diversity of each region by planting trees in these forests, raising them, and cherishing them. Chinju no mori are not just collections of trees. A wide range of living things make their homes there, and their lives have also been preserved and passed on. As chinju no mori have been handed down from the times of our ancestors to the present day, they have become a spiritual support for the people of Japan. Even as the shape of our lives has changed over the centuries, the spirit of respect and awe towards nature has been nurtured through our contact with the chinju no mori. For the Japanese, chinju no mori are both places where people can gather to relax, and the homes of our hearts. In this way, the view of nature in which nature and humanity live together has been transmitted from ancient times to the present day.

 

In this way, we have always lived within a framework in which we live together with nature and its cycles. This approach to a sustainable society within which all things follow a natural cycle, rooted in Shinto, is a sustainable way of life and approach to the world, and can surely help the world move from the current environmental crisis to a bright future. I pray unceasingly that it can support this transition across national borders and for many peoples.

 

Further, as today’s Japan is also seeing the erosion of traditional values in the face of the swift development of science and information technology, passing these Shinto ideals on to the next generation is both our calling, and an urgent duty.

 

In conclusion, please let me assure all of you of my prayers for your health and activities, and bring to an end my statement on behalf of Japan’s Jinja Shinto.

 

Thank you for your attention.