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One in three temples could shut in the next 25 years. Photo: EPA

Zen no more: A third of Japan's Buddhist temples expected to close within 25 years as religion faces an 'existential crisis'

Shrinking communities and costly traditional funerals are dimming the religion's future

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Perched on a hilltop and surrounded by mountain forests ablaze in autumn reds and yellows, Kaigenji is a picture postcard image of old Japan. The stone steps leading to the entrance of the 300-year-old Zen Buddhist temple take visitors past a lovingly tended landscape of rocks, trees and pale gravel raked into swirls to symbolise water.

Inside, the head priest, Bunkei Shibata, is in a contemplative mood. But it is not the path to enlightenment that occupies his thoughts. Instead, he is pondering the future of his, and tens of thousands of other Buddhist temples across Japan.

Over the next 25 years, 27,000 of the country's 77,000 temples are expected to close, in one of the biggest existential crises facing Japanese Buddhism since it was introduced from Korea in the sixth century.

Its decline mirrors that of hundreds of small communities that have traditionally helped finance their local temple.

In a report released last year, the Japan Policy Council warned that if the exodus, particularly among young women, from rural areas continues at the current rate, almost half of Japan's municipalities will disappear by 2040, along with their places of religious worship.

With no parishioners left to pay for their upkeep, temples will have no choice but to close their doors for good, according to Hidenori Ukai, a journalist and deputy head priest of Shogakuji temple in Kyoto.

"The popular image of Buddhist priests as wealthy might still be true in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, but it's not the case elsewhere," said Ukai. "At my temple, we have about 120 local patrons, but you need at least 200 to make a living," added Ukai, who, like many priests, decided to pursue a second career.

Not even Japan's busy funeral industry appears able to come to Buddhism's rescue. While almost 1.3 million Japanese died last year, few relatives can afford the millions of yen it costs to hold a traditional Buddhist funeral. More are opting for cheaper, secular ceremonies, while priests say they feel duty-bound to drastically lower costs to give deceased parishioners a fitting send-off.

"Japanese Buddhism has gone on a strange direction," said Shibata. "These days most people associate it with funerals, but there is much more to it than that."

Some priests are attempting to reverse the decline and challenge the "funeral Buddhism" image by opening temple cafes, supporting volunteer activities and hosting music and theatre productions. In Tokyo, priests at Vowz Bar dispense spiritual guidance along with alcohol, to their young clientele.

The crisis facing Japanese Buddhism isn't a simple matter of demographics. Surveys show that an increasing number of Japanese regard organised religion as inaccessible, cheerless and - since the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult - even dangerous.

More than 12,000 Japanese temples have no resident priest, according to a recent survey by the , as the pool of young people interested in the priesthood continues to dwindle.

Undaunted, Shibata is trying to turn Japan's skewed demographics to the religion's advantage by reaching out to retirees who want to fill their twilight years with more than rounds of golf and trips to hot springs.

"Older people have a wealth of life experiences ... And, let's be honest, the older you get, the more you think about your own mortality, and the more open you are to religious ideas."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Japan's Buddhist temples dwindle as rites decline
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