mous, with the monastic practitioners of purportedly
elite institutions actively promoting the miraculous
powers of the statues, icons, and relics at their institu-
tions. Some scholars argue that there exists a “com-
mon religion” (Reader and Tanabe) centered on
worldly benefits, in which elite and popular, institu-
tional (Buddhist) and folk religion are effectively parts
of one dynamic.
Folk heroes and pilgrimage customs
One of the most striking popular figures of worship
who grants worldly benefits is KoboDaishi, who can
be seen as an exemplar both of the folk transforma-
tions of Buddhism and of Buddhist influence on folk
religion. Kobo Daishi is the posthumous name of
KUKAI(774–835), founder of the Shingon Buddhist
tradition and of numerous temples in Japan. Shingon
Buddhist sources suggest that Kukai entered into eter-
nal meditation at death, and the sect promoted him,
in his posthumous guise as Kobo Daishi, as a tran-
scendent miracle worker who could bring benefits to
the faithful. Cults of worship developed around him,
portraying him as an itinerant who dispenses rewards
to the worthy and retribution to the venal. PILGRIM-
AGEroutes—most notably an eighty-eight-temple cir-
cuit around Shikoku, the island of Kukai’s birth—also
developed around this cultic figure; he has transcended
sectarian boundaries and become the focus of an ex-
tensive folk faith, still vibrant in modern Japan. A study
by Kaneko Satoru (Shinshushinkoto minzoku shinko,
1991) shows that the pilgrimage and veneration of
KoboDaishi are deeply embedded in the folk customs
of Shikoku, and that such folk practices and attitudes
permeate the lives of people who officially belong to
orthodox sectarian Buddhism but whose daily lives
and localized faith are rooted in Kobo Daishi and
pilgrimage-centered folk religion.
The interactions between Buddhism and folk reli-
gion in Japan have been extensive. Folk religion is the
underlying stratum upon which Buddhism and other
traditions have built their foundations and through
which they have responded to the needs and views of
Japanese people.
See also:Divinities; Festivals and Calendrical Rituals;
Ghost Festival; Ghosts and Spirits; Japan; Local Di-
vinities and Buddhism; Merit and Merit-Making;
Shingon Buddhism, Japan; Shinto (Honji Suijaku)
and Buddhism
Bibliography
Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Prac-
tices in Japan(1975). Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1999.
Hori, Ichiro. Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.
Kaneko Satoru. Shinshushinkoto minzoku shinko.Kyoto: Na-
gata Bunshodo, 1991.
Miyake Hitoshi. “Folk Religion.” In Japanese Religion,ed. Hori
Ichiroet al. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1981.
Miyake Hitoshi. Shugendo: Essays on the Structure of Japanese
Folk Religion.Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, Uni-
versity of Michigan, 2001.
Reader, Ian. Religion in Contemporary Japan.Basingstoke, UK:
Macmillan; Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991.
Reader, Ian, and Tanabe, George J., Jr. Practically Religious:
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan.Hon-
olulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.IANREADERFOLK RELIGION, SOUTHEAST ASIAThe folk religions of THERAVADASoutheast Asia com-
bine elements of local spirit religions, local versions of
Brahmanism, and Buddhism. The combination of
Buddhism, Brahmanism, and spirits is a total ritual
system with as much internal tension as consistency.
This is because, while Buddhism is doctrinally opposed
to spirit religions, it recognizes and respects Brah-
manism. Buddhism’s opposition to spirits is not based
on the grounds that these religions are false; the prob-
lem is that spirits are worldly powers, and people bent
on salvation should not concern themselves with them.
The Brahmanical DIVINITIES(devata), on the other
hand, are seen as supernatural protectors of Buddhism,
so interaction with them is considered wholesome. In
practice, however, laypersons consider interaction with
the spirits to be a practical necessity, and even monks
must deal with them on occasion.Spirit religion
The spirit religions have their roots in the pre-Buddhist
past. There is remarkable consistency among the vari-
ous versions of these religions across Southeast Asia,
among both Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups. Spir-
its are invisible beings with humanlike wills and emo-
tions that are associated with specific places and objects.
The spirits have the power to harm humans, and they
will do so if they feel that humans have trespassed onFOLKRELIGION, SOUTHEASTASIA