This paper studies the modernization of the Buddhist temple Nanzō-in 南蔵院in Sasaguri town, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushū, as well as its socio-religious relationship with the local society. The temple belongs to the Shingon sect 真言宗 and is the first of 88 pilgrimage sites, fudasho 札所, replicas of the Shikoku Reijyō 四国霊場 based on the Kōbō Daishi belief 弘法大師信仰．According to legend, the Sasaguri pilgrimage sites were founded in 1835, and they flourished until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. According to the Meiji government's political order for the separation of Buddhism and deity belief, the socio-religious system of pilgrimage in Sasaguri radically changed and gradually declined. Local people conceived the idea of requesting to headquarter of the Shingon sect located at Mt. Kōya. In 1899, Nanzō-in temple migrated from Mt. Kōya to Sasaguri and was afforded the supreme status of a pilgrimage site. During the Meiji period, Nanzō-in was supported by the local society and outsiders, including laborers from the coal mining industry. Thus, the temple experienced the modernization.
This paper primarily explains the history of the temple, socioeconomic background, the change in belief systems, the leadership of the main monk, and the transformation of the relationship between the temple and local society. Nanzō-in temple is a religious complex comprising a main temple, Daishi-dō dedicated to the religious founder, small shrines, a large statue of Hudō-myōō 不動明王, and stone images of numerous bodhisattvas.
We discuss radical changes in the temple's character from supplication and prayer in this world to appeasing dead spirits in the other world. After the construction of the large bronze image of the"Enlightenment Buddha" in 1995, Nanzōin transformed into a commercial temple and focused on conducting religious services for the storage hall of the bones of the dead, the Nōkotsudō. This is a new business for the temple. Nanzō-in encompasses various believers from ascetics to pilgrims and go toward the"Engaged Buddhism" movement.
This paper also focuses on the "invention of tradition" and the modernization of Buddhism supported by the local society to establish the function of the temple's social capital. In conclusion, we discuss the negotiation between external and internal society and its inhabitants.
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