The Buddha Tree

by Fumio Niwa, Kenneth Strong (Translator)

The Buddha Tree tells the story of Soshu, an effete and handsome Buddhist priest whose hypocrisy and addiction to sensual pleasures lead him to carry on an affair with his own mother-in-law, even as he offers pious counseling to his parishioners. Ridden with guilt, Soshu tries to reform after his wife leaves him but becomes enmeshed in his own web of deceit. Throughout The Buddha Tree Niwa reveals remarkable insight into human weaknesses and casts a keen eye at the materialism of the modern Japanese Buddhist church.

Genres: Fiction, Japanese Literature, Japan, Novels, Religion

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Fumio Niwa (丹羽文雄 Niwa Fumio, born on November 22, 1904 in Mie Prefecture, Japan, died April 20, 2005 in Musashino, Tokyo) was a Japanese novelist with a long list of works, the most famous in the West being his novel The Buddha Tree (Japanese Bodaiju, 1956).

The eldest son of a priest in the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, Niwa grew up at Sogenji, a temple in Yokkaichi near Nagoya. After his graduation from Waseda University, he reluctantly entered the hereditary priesthood at Sogenji but quit two years later, at the age of 29, in order to become a writer, walking out of the temple grounds on 10 April 1932 and heading back to Tokyo. He was supported by his girlfriend until his marriage in 1935. During this time he published Sweetfish (Japanese Ayu), serialised in Bungei Shinju, and the novel Superfluous Flesh (Japanese Zeiniku).

Niwa's work was controversial and during World War II a couple of his novels were banned for immorality; he worked as a war correspondent in China and New Guinea; he accompanied Rear Admiral Gunichi Mikawa's Eighth Fleet and was on board the flagship Chōkai during the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942. He was wounded at Tulagi. These experiences inspired Naval Engagement (Japanese Kaisen) and Lost Company (Kaeranu Chutai), both censored.

After the war Niwa became the extremely prolific author of more than 80 novels, 100 volumes of short stories, and 10 volumes of essays. His most celebrated short story was The Hateful Age (Japanese Iyagarase no Nenrei, 1947), about a family terrorised by a senile grandmother, which became so famous that the phrase "the hateful age" entered the language for a time.

The novel The Buddha Tree uses his unhappy childhood at Sogenji as a backdrop. When he was eight years old his mother eloped with an actor from the Kansai Kabuki company, an event that greatly traumatised him; in this novel the story is elaborated fictionally.

Later works include, from 1969, a five-volume biography of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of the Pure Land sect, and in 1983 an eight-volume work on Rennyo, a 15th Century monk who died on a pilgrimage to India.

In 1965 Niwa was elected a member of the Art Academy of Japan, and the following year he was elected as the chief director of the Japanese Writers' Association, a position he held for many years. Niwa encouraged fellow members to play golf, organised health insurance, and bought land for a writers' graveyard. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 1977.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since a few years ago I usually picked up this 380-page novel and decided not to read it due to my limited familiarity with Fumio Niwa; however, I changed my mind when I read his brief biography on its back cover. A reason is that the author himself was a heir of a Buddhist family who later renounced his priesthood to be a writer. Reading this book, I think, would allow me to know some conflicts regarding a Buddhist priest of Butsuoji (Temple of the Merciful Buddha) named Soshu who keeps struggling desperately due to his guilt and better understand how Buddhism in Japan has been practised by looking at a Buddhist sect, the True Pure Land, in terms of its teachings as well as services less familiar to me because Mahayana Buddhism has been adopted from China and practised since 552 in Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism...) whereas Theravada Buddhism imported from Sri Lanka has been practised in Thailand since 1292 (http://www.thaibuddhism.net/page1.htm).

First, there are various poignant conflicts between Soshu and those key characters (Soshu vs. Mineyo, Soshu vs. Yamaji, Soshu vs. Tomoko, Yamaji vs. Tachi, priest vs. parishioners, etc.) in which, I think, its readers may not be unanimous since they seem nearly equally important, that is, each with its own impact toward Soshu's confession and self-proclaimed verdict for his departure from Butsuoji in the last chapter. I found the conflict between the third pair naturally heartfelt, surrealistically romantic, and impressively descriptive. As Yamaji's mistress after her mother passed away, Tomoko bitterly lives in a house with Shoko and Sumi; Soshi occasionally visits her house to perform the rite for her mother shrine. Over time, they gradually fall in love and Tomoko decisively plans to find somewhere for them to talk privately. I think most of the readers simply could not help appreciating how they finally meet without any intrusion, as we can read in Chapter 29, an excerpt:

Tears began to appear in Tomoko's eyes. Turning away, she felt for Soshu's hand and took it in her own.
'I shall leave him. ..'
Soshu did not answer. 'And you, Father -- you'll let him go if he decides to leave Butsuoji? You won't keep worrying about him?'
'I can't stop worrying about him, for the temple's sake. But it's you that matters.'
'It's been fate, anyway, as far as we are concerned.'
'At least I've found you --' Soshu's smile was subdued.
'Thank you for finding me!' -- in a bantering tone; but she leaned closer, her shoulders bent towards him, Soshu embraced her. ...
...
Soshu gazed at the lovely fine-grained skin, like distilled water. It had never occurred to him that mere human flesh could be so beautiful, and he could not believe now that this woman could be his. A rush of delightful visions -- and with them a goading urge to desecrate such beauty. ...
... (p. 284)

Second, I found this key teaching, "Buddhism recognizes five sins: the taking of life, theft, fornication, lying, and intemperance, or transgressing the prohibition against drinking and the eating of flesh" (pp. 63-64) nearly similar to the following five precepts, sila, as preached, known and practised in Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia:

I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life;
I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given;
I undertake the training rule to abstain from sensual misconduct;
I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech; and
I undertake the training rule to abstain from liquors, wines, and other intoxicants, which are the basis for heedlessness. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist...)

Third, one of the services as narrated in detail in Chapter 4 and briefly in other chapters in other families, that is, visiting to read the sutras to the family shrine, seems unique to me. These are some related excerpts so the we can understand how Soshu typically performs the rite:
...
While his wife was serving tea, Tachi opened the family shrine which was kept behind the sliding doors of the cupboard, lit the candles and began to burn incense. ...
After burning incense, Tachi sat before the shrine in silence, his hands clasped in reverence to the dead, then bowed to Soshu as the latter put on a ceremonial stole marked with the Butsouji crest. ...
Soshu turned to face the shrine. Holding his rosary so that the single big bead was uppermost and the tassel hung down over the back of his left hand, he placed his hands together in the attitude of worship. ...
...
He began with the Three Sutras of the Pure Land Sect. Altogether the readings took about two hours. Usually there would be a pause in the middle, while the priest rested and sipped a little tea to keep his voice fresh. ...
...
After the Three Sutras, Soshu began the Monruige scripture, Tachi and his wife joining in as he did so. Soshu himself, of course, knew the text by heart, ...
...
Finally, Soshu read from one of the Senshuji religious commentaries. ...
...
... When he reached the twenty-fifth chapter, Soshu moved a little to the left, so that he was no longer directly in front of the shrine, bent his head slightly, raised the book reverently to his forehead, and began to read again, holding the book now with both hands just below the level of his eyes: ...
...
Tachi and his wife and son listened with bowed heads. Soshu turned to face them when he had finished reading, and after Tachi had thanked him formally for performing the rite, began to take off his stole. Mrs Tachi went to prepare a meal for him. ... Soshu merely tasted the food briefly, for politeness' sake. ... (pp. 51-55)

In sum, this novel is worth reading because it is readably translated, highly narrative/argumentative and reliably informative [despite a few errors, for instance, burnng (burning, p. 37), soul purpose (sole purpose, p. 61), an debt (a debt, p. 155), etc.]; therefore, I would like to recommend it to those readers interested in Buddhism, the True Pure Land Sect, Mahayana Buddhism in Japan.

N.B. There is an error regarding his year of death on the back cover, that is, (1904-1978); according to the two sources verified: (1) from Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8..., and (2) from Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumio_Niwa, both have confirmed that he passed away in 2005, the first centenarian Japanese author I've ever known.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

We can probably all agree that you oughtn't have sex with your mother-in-law. Or your adopted mother.

"The Buddha Tree" is about one priest's route back to being the kind of man who doesn't have sex with his mother-in-law / adopted mother.

How did it all get so "Jeremy Kyle"? The backstory: the priest at Butsuoji temple dies, leaving an attractive young widow and a very young daughter. The parishioners agree that the attractive young widow should adopt a young priest as her son, install him in the temple and then marry him to her daughter as soon as she's a teenager. Of course the attractive young widow only goes and chooses the sexiest teenage priest she can find, and ends up seducing him with a "My belly hurts. Could you give it a little rub?" line within hours of their meeting. Tsk.

"The Buddha Tree" opens some years later. The priest's young wife has recently learnt about her mother's continued sexual relationship with her husband, and she has run off with a visiting kabuki actor leaving their boy Ryokun to one day inherit the priesthood.

The scandal of her departure is the jolt that everyone needs to try and steer the temple into classier waters. But it ain't going to be easy.

I wanted to read Niwa's "Naval Battle", but it has not been translated.

[Ikkychann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story reminded me of the infamous concept of "Locke's Socks" or "The Ship of Theseus". The concept goes like this:
Imagine you have a sock, but the sock got so old it started to get hole everywhere, so you patch it up. It gets a hole, and you patch it up. It goes on and on for a while until the original fabric that first form you socks are all gone and the sock that you have now completely built from endless patchwork.
Now, the ultimate question is: can you still call it your sock, or not?

Then we take a look at all religion in this world. Buddha, Hind, Islam, Christian, Catholic, and everything in between: has is exactly like when it's originally invented? If it's not, could we still call it by its name? Could it still bring us salvation?

Soshu, the Priest, find himself wandering about that throughout the story. He observed how vast and undetected the "patchwork", the embellishment and unnecessary addition invested in his inherited religious faith is---whether it's visually shown by the various colour and attachment of priest robes (differed by rank and status) to the baffling arrogance and greed he witnessed in the heart of Mineyo, something so unfitted someone who spent her whole life in a temple---adding to his own already-crumbling sense of composure as a religion practitioner.

This is not a 'religous' novel---as some people might label it into---but it's far more essential than that. Niwa use religion to dramatize the novel form (and criticizes it) to reflect how a person cope with existential crisis, a person who discover nothing can shield mankind from its weakness of sin---not even religion---and all we have to turn to and reach salvation is noone but ourselves, deprived of all those 'patchworks'.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Everyone has the right, on occasion, to judge others by some external, public standard that may at the time have little bearing on his own case — but not if he invariably refuses to apply any such standards to his own shortcomings.”

“Man thinks there is nothing he cannot conquer with his intellect; but is human ability really the measure of all things? Wars hitherto have only served to deepen men’s illusions in this respect. The world in which we live is ever-shifting, a kaleidoscope of perpetual change.”

All sins come with consequences. No matter how fervently you burrow yourself into your faith, what’s bound to happen, *will* happen. Such is the case in The Buddha Tree. It tells of the lives of the people in Tan’ami and their presiding Buddhist temple, but mainly of the Getsudo family, the inheritors of the temple.

To give context, Fumio Niwa, the author, is a son of a Buddhist family, and the book reflects his life in a temple, and his defiance against his fate. This book served as a social commentary about organized religion — specifically Pure Land Buddhism. It weaves through the mundane everyday lives of the people of Tan’ami (modelled to the author’s hometown of Yokkaichi), how they live with their religion and its role in their lives. It portrays how religion is used for lobbying, for self-interest, and as cover for one’s sins. It also questions the expectations between laymen and the priesthood, and basically, it humanizes religion. How it’s mainly driven by humans who want something to believe in to keep life going. And like how humans are susceptible to corruption, religion is too.

Apart from the social commentary, it’s also a slow burn battle between responsibility and passions. It builds the tension up at the start while it festers and festers until it all blows up. The novel tests your empathy towards these characters — they make you feel annoyance, admiration, and pity, one at a time, and all at once.

Fumio Niwa’s writing is succinct, but poetic. It doesn’t need much interpretation to know what is happening and what is implied. He also provides context on how Pure Land Buddhism is practiced with a sprinkle of facts here and there. It’s a read that you need to be focused on, and not at all a light read.

[Anders Bjonbäck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I don't think I ever want to revisit, but highly recommend. It's about a Japanese pure-land Buddhist priest who has a longtime (very sexual) affair with his mother in law. Highly disturbing and embarrassing, and interesting for anyone who'd like a glance into small neighborhood temple politics & life.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well crafted exposition of the psychological dynamics of sin and guilt. In my opinion this work challenges and possibly exceeds that of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

[J U N · Rating 5 out of 5]

powerful book

[Thomasin Propson]

Not capturing my interest. Will give this copy away.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

As exquisitely crafted as an embroidered silk kimono.

[Ratih Puspo · Rating 3 out of 5]

iseng beli di sogo TP, ada buku2 murah tapi in english. bacanya agak ngawur karena males buka kamus. yang penting tau intinya :p

tentang intrik yang terjadi di sebuah kuil kuno di jepang, kegundahan penerus kuil, percintaan yang tak lazim dengan ibu tirinya (disebutkan kalo disini udah 60an tahun tapi masih kaya 40-an--cantik pula).

bukunya cukup tebel, jadi ada bosennya juga, apalagi penulis detail banget tentang suasana kuil dan suasana hati tokohnya. tapi jadi bisa membayangkan sedikit2 gimana jepang tanpa harus kesana :)