Japanese Philosophy - Ancient and Medieval Thought

Ancient and Medieval Thought

Before feudalism was firmly established in Japan, Buddhism occupied the mainstream of Japanese thought. The Buddhism culture introduced politically by Prince Shotoku is completed as the “making a country safe” thought in the Nara era. When the Heian era begins, in substitution for the “making a country safe thought”, mikkyo becomes popular. However, in the late noble era when pessimism was popular due to the “belief that Buddhism will decline during the latter days of this world”, the Pure Land movements spread out in the strong admiration to the future life in desperation over the life in this world. When the Kamakura era at which a samurai grasps the government begins, the “new” Buddhism for the newly-risen class (samurai) appears.