Anti-Buddhism Movement in Kofukuji Temple, Nara 興福寺のお坊さんってそんなに弱かったの？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Kofukuji Temple's five-story pagoda

From a low angle

This is the five storied pagoda of Kofukuji Temple in Nara. I've been there twice a year for the last ten years, so didn't expect to take a picture of it this summer again. But during the vacation, I was reading a book about ancient Japanese history, which naturally includes historical events in Nara, one of the former Japanese capitals, older than Kyoto, and this book made me look at this temple from literally a new perspective.

Kofukuji is one of the oldest and most famous temples in Japan, but, according to the book, is well-known for being obedient to the authority.

At the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912), anti-Buddhism and temple destruction movement (haibutsu kishaku) occurred. This was led by the then government, mainly by people from the Satsuma Domain (the current Kagoshima prefecture), to make Shinto the state religion under the Emperor. As a result, the monks of this temple were told that they were fired and to become priests of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a nearby Shinto organization. The temple's other assets were sold as firewood with this five-story pagoda being once for sale at JPY250 (current JPY5 million). On the other hand, monks of temples in Osaka, a prefecture next to Nara, ignored that order. Osaka people are well-known for being open, talkative and rebellious.

I learned about this event in such detail on the website (Japanese only) and don't know if the author's characterization of Nara and Osaka people is true. But this historical event made me feel closer to Kofukuji Temple because I realized that a temple is not just a religious organization, but also full of human dramas. If you are interested in another drama, a labor dispute at Horyuji Temple, another temple in Nara, read this!

ここ10年、毎年奈良に行っている。行ったら必ず興福寺には行くので、今さら五重の塔の写真を撮るなんて思ってもいなかったが、この夏は井沢元彦氏の「逆説の日本史」を読んで面白いことを知ったので、ついつい撮ってしまいました。

興福寺って廃仏毀釈の時に、「みんな春日大社の神官になれ、五重の塔も売ってしまえ」と言われ、従ってしまったんですって。あるサイトによると、大阪の寺にも同じような命令が来たけど無視。だけど奈良県民は権力に弱いので興福寺は従ってしまい、一時期、五重の塔が250円（今の500万円くらい）で売られていたとのこと。県民性の話はさておき、寺にもいろいろドラマがあるのかと、興福寺に親しみを感じてしまいました。ちなみに法隆寺の労働争議について知りたい方はこちらをどうぞ。