apanese people are not irreligious, perhaps just unaware of their unconscious ties to their religion.
Since long ago people would go visit Shinshō-ji Temple, but what was the point? What kind of tales and stories have unfolded? We hoped that we were able to convey some of these reasons to you. Of course, we are still a long ways from figuring out the Japanese unconscious.
Shinshō-ji’s omotesando has very little litter, people line up to ride the train, and for some reason people bow multiple times in a row. With these customs, it is undeniable that people in Japan are influenced by Buddhism in their day to day lives. Even the Japanese language is affected. “Goodbye” in Japanese is “sayōnara”. Among the world's’ major languages, there are three main types of “goodbye”, but “sayōnara” does not apply to any of them.
1. Phrases like “Goodbye” and “adieu” mean something like, “May God protect you”.
2. Phrases like 再見 (Zaijian) in Chinese literally means “See you again.”
3. Phrases like Farewell or 계세요 (keseyo) in Korean means something like “take care” or “be in good health”.
The origin of “sayōnara” is a phrase that literally translates to “If you are like that, what would happen if you were not”, and it just got contracted to “sayōnara”. There are many explanations for the etymology of the word, but one of them says that it seems to mean “even with my own strength, there is nothing I can do about it”. The “it” refers to the act of parting ways. The phrase sort of signifies accepting the fact that one must leave. This beautiful Japanese is also infused with the unconscious wisdom of Buddhism.
To know the true meaning of these kind of things, all you can do is continue your travels. This time was probably a short stay in Japan, but next time go see Tokyo, go to see an Ichikawa Danjūrō kabuki performance, or maybe even go to Kyoto or Nara to learn more about the Buddhist world. Each time you travel you are moving through the points of destiny, from one stage to the next. You may be even able to catch us at “ON THE TRIP” at your next destination. We hope destiny will bring us together.
ON THE TRIP Editing Department
Original Japanese Text:
Akihito Shiga
Translation:
Farshad Khansari
Autumn Smith
Audio:
Farshad Khansari
Photography:
Hiroshi Honma
Photos also provided by:
Daihon-zan Narita-san Shinshō-ji
Sources:
NHK 関東甲信越 小さな旅 8／小さな旅取材班
図説 成田の歴史 普及版／成田市史編集委員会編
成田みち今昔／森田保
成田・寺と町まちの歴史／小倉博
「成田参詣記」を歩く／川田寿
門前町成田の歩み／大野政治
*This guide was created based on documents and interviews and includes some interpretation done by us at ON THE TRIP. Theories differ between experts, so try to find out what really happened on your travels!