The Future of Buddhist Monastic Women in Japan

Shobha Rani Dash

Japanese Buddhism is indebted to women in many ways. Buddhism was introduced in Japan officially in 552 CE. Shortly after that, in 584 CE, the first person to take the tonsure and enter Buddhist monastic life was a girl called Shima, the daughter of Shiba Tatt?. She is widely known by her religious name, Zenshin-ni. After that, the women of Japan proceeded in the path of monasticism with firm resolution and strong faith in the Buddha and his Dharma. According to the first survey on Buddhist monasteries and monastics in Japan, conducted in 624 CE during the reign of Empress Suiko, the number of nuns was 569, almost 41 percent of the total number of monastics at the time. From this date until now, the monastic women of Japan have been shouldering the responsibility of transmitting the legacy of Zenshin-ni.

The history of monastic women in Japan has seen many ups and downs. Although it had such a glorious beginning, there was a time when women were prohibited from even entering the holy mountains of Mt. Koya and Hiei. These days, the state of affairs has changed and women have gained equal status with men in the field of religion. A woman can become a nun and can also be the head priest of a temple. Nuns take the same examinations as monks and theoretically can obtain equal recognition.

Unfortunately, however, nuns are only granted equal status with monks to a certain extent. In reality, monastic women struggle to maintain their identity, not only within the monastic sphere, but in Japanese society more broadly. In rapidly changing Japanese society, the status and identity of monastic women are undergoing a transformation. In this paper, I present a brief introduction to female monastics in Japan. I discuss the present economic, religious, and social status of Buddhist nuns and nunneries in Japan and, with the help of interviews and data from other sources, speculate about their future.