1030 thierry robouam
two facts are certain. Since the 1990s a renewed interest in esotericism
(mikkyō ) in Japan has manifested in the forms of publications,
exhibitions, documentaries, and pilgrimage. Furthermore, the esoteric
traditions of Japanese Buddhism have in turn renewed their interest
in contemporary Japan, trying to adapt their teachings and practices
to the needs of a rapidly changing society.
In this fashion, the word “mikkyō” has begun to be used in a new
way, one that reveals in the minds of many Japanese a coherent con-
ceptual landscape that renews the reflection on identity and offers a
sense of belonging. “Mikkyō” is thus visible for a general public in
bookstores, concert halls, museums, public events, and as tourist attrac-
tions. Scholars too have enriched their understanding of “mikkyō” by
opening new fields of specialized studies such as Tibetan esoteric Bud-
dhism, and also by renewing their interest in the esoteric Buddhist
traditions of China, India, and the Silk Road. This scholarly research
affects the general public through high-quality television programs
and DVDs that introduce a vast set of Buddhist sites and artifacts.
In this sense, the addition of the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes
in the Kii Mountain Range” to the UNESCO World Heritage List was
much more than a matter of national pride. The official UNESCO
declaration justifies the inscription to the World Heritage List of this
mountain range by mentioning a “unique fusion between Shintoism
and Buddhism.” Though the concept of fusion might not be the best
way to express the relationships the Japanese have created between
different religious planes, it is true that the Kii Mountain Range testi-
fies to the fact that the arrival of esoteric Buddhism in Japan was not
accompanied by the suppression of existing religious attitudes dear to
the ancestors of the Man’yōbito (the literati of the Asuka and
Nara periods).
What may be seen as contemporary, in this sense, is that esoteric
Buddhism is less confined to the interiors of temples and garans
but can be found more in the open, at natural sites of pilgrimage, exhi-
bition halls, or concert halls. For example, who could have imagined
that Shingon and Tendai monks would travel around Japan and the
world to perform esoteric Buddhist chants (shōmyō ) in concert
halls and Christian churches?
At a more popular level, posters in trains and public places and
advertisements for exhibitions on Buddhist artifacts (most often eso-
teric art) contribute to maintaining an esoteric flavor in Japanese daily
life. Esoteric symbols have penetrated most of Japanese popular cul-