Japan's Vedic Culture Still Alive

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hinducivilization, "S. Kalyanaraman"

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Japan's Hindu linkages still alive

By IANS, Feb 17, 2007 - 4:40:44 PM

http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Japans-Hindu-linkages-still-

alive_15985.shtml

New Delhi, Feb 17 - Apart from the widely known fact that Buddhism

in Japan has its origin in India, not many probably know that so many

Hindu deities surround the life of a Japanese.

Speaking at a lecture titled 'Hindu Gods and Goddesses rooted to

Japan' here Friday, Lokesh Chandra, the director of International

Academy of Indian Culture, highlighted how deeply Indian religion and

culture has influenced Japanese culture and tradition over the past

centuries.

He said that many temples across Japan are full of Hindu deities.

Chandra said Japanese couples who desire to have a beautiful

daughter pray to goddess 'Saraswati' even to this day. Saraswati is

also believed as the patroness of writers and painters.

'In ancient times, Japanese generals prayed to Saraswati to be

victorious in war,' Chandra told the gathering which was also

attended by the Japanese Ambassador to India Yasukuni Enoki and his

wife.

Year 2007 is being celebrated as Japan-India Friendship Year to

commemorate the 50th year of the cultural agreement between the two

countries.

According to Chandra, who has travelled to Japan many times to

study the country's culture and tradition, Saraswati is also

worshipped as the 'goddesses of kitchen'.

Many traditional Japanese plays are dedicated to the Indian deity.

Sharing a trivia he said how in 1934, a Japanese woman had a vision

that she was the incarnation of goddess Saraswati and stared writing

in Sanskrit, a language she never heard off.

There is a suburban district in Tokyo named Kichijo, which traces

its roots to 'Lakshmi', the Hindu goddess of wealth. Lakshmi was

propagated to China along with Buddhism in the ancient time, to be

known as Kichijo in its Chinese form and then reached Japan as a

Buddhist goddess.

Chandra also spoke extensively about how Sanskrit language has

influenced traditional Japanese calligraphy.

The Indian text was introduced into Japanese society many centuries

ago. Japanese monks had to study Sanskrit in order to master Buddhism

from original Indian scriptures and textbooks.

Lord Ganesha in Japan symbolises the joy of life that arises from

the power rooted in the virtues of wisdom and compassion.

Young Japanese worship Ganesha to win in love whereas the old

worship the deity to get success in business.

There are roughly 100 temples dedicated to Ganesha in Japan,

Chandra added. An 11th century Ganesha temple is the oldest among

them.

Together with Hindu gods and goddess, ancient Japanese society was

also introduced to Indian dance forms and musical instruments.

A typical example is the 'Biwa', which actually had its origin from

the Indian 'Veena'. One of Japan's largest lakes is also known as

Lake Biwa.

One can also see the influence of the Indian epic Ramayana in the

traditional Japanese dance forms of 'Bugaku' and 'Gigaku'.

The yearlong cultural celebration was kicked off here last week

that was attended by former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori

among others.