Folk Religion Among the Koreans in Japan <197> The Shamanism of the "Korean Temples" <197>
IIDA Takafumi ****
The presence of seven hundred thousand Koreans in Japan has drawn attention to issues such as the abolition of ethnic discrimination and the attainment of human rights in contemporary Japanese society, while the Koreans in Japan, as marginal figures, continue to face the problem of their identity. These issues have been studied from political and historical perspectives, but with an insufficient religious and cultural understanding. The group of "Korean temples" in the suburbs of Osaka, where the largest number of Koreans in Japan reside, is a religious phenomenon consisting of a syncretism of Korean Shamanism, Korean Buddhism, and Japanese mountain religion. In this paper I will outline the present situation of these Korean temples in Japan and reflect on the significance they hold for the Koreans in Japan and Japanese society. The "resentment" (han * ) of the spirits of the dead, which is to be purified through shamanistic rituals, is a religious expression of the collective misfortune of the Koreans in Japan which is continually reproduced by the structural discrimination of Japanese society. Also, this Shamanism has served as a magical way for Korean women in Japan to adjust to their difficult social situation. It also contains, as the basic ethnic culture of Koreans in Japan, the potential to serve as a womb for the formation of their culture and identity.
A large number of Korean people were forced to come to Japan and work as cheap labor upon being dispossessed of their land and livelihood when Korea came under Japanese rule after the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. A large influx of Koreans occurred after 1920, and by 1941 there were about 1,469,000 Koreans residing in Japan. From 1942 the coercive drafting of Koreans added to this population shift, with the figure growing to an estimated 2,100,000 people by the time Japan was defeated in 1945 (Pak 1957, p. 69).
A large number of Koreans gathered in Osaka, one of the major industrial cities of pre-war Japan, and a large Korean community took shape in the 1920's in the Ikaino area (part of the present-day Ikuno-ku of Osaka), consisting mostly of immigrants from Cheju Island (see Kim C. 1985, Akiba Y. 1986, Sugihara 1986). The extremely difficult situation in which the people of Cheju Island found themselves forced them to rely on relatives or people from the same village who had immigrated to Japan at an earlier date. People from Cheju Island flocked to Ikaino, until their population in 1934 reached 50,053, one fourth the size of the population of the whole island of Cheju itself (Kim C. 1985, p. 101).
After Japan's defeat in 1945, over 1.5 million people returned to their home country, which had split into North and South Korea. However, five hundred thousand Koreans chose to remain in Japan and continue their struggle to eke out a living in the midst of poverty and discrimination. The Japanese government has retained the social discrimination directed against these people, and continues to follow naturalization policies based on a prerequisite of ethnic assimilation. As of 1982, 115,802 people had acquired Japanese citizenship (Kat“ 1983, p. 12). However, those who wish to maintain their Korean ethnic identity have refused to be naturalized, and continue to maintain their citizenship with the Republic of Korea (South) or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North). In 1984 there were 687,135 people permanently residing in Japan while maintaining their Korean (South or North) citizenship (H“mush“ ny–koku kanrikyoku 1987, p. 82). This group makes up 82% of the foreign population in Japan. A large percentage of the Korean residents in Japan live in the Kansai area surrounding Osaka, with one hundred ninety thousand Korean residents in Osaka alone. If one adds the Korean residents of Ky“to-fu and Hy“go prefecture, the total for these three districts alone comes to three hundred ten thousand, about 45% of the total Korean population in Japan.
If we look at the percentages of Koreans according to their place of origin, figures for the entire country of Japan show that 36% are from Kyongsang nam do, 24% from Kyongsang buk do, 15% from Cholla nam do, and 14% from Cheju do (as of 1971, Lee K. 1983, p. 83). Of the Koreans in the Osaka area (totaling some 116,007), however, 46% originally came from Cheju do (p. 87). The percentage increases to 72% (p. 131) out of a population of 38,713 resident Koreans (as of 1980, p. 125) in Ikuno-ku, which has the highest concentration of Korean residents in Japan. The members of Korean society have experienced local feelings of opposition, and those from Cheju Island in particular suffer from discrimination. Therefore the Korean residents from Cheju Island in Ikaino have established a close-knit society of Cheju people, bound together by connections of family, place of origin, employment, markets, and religion. At the present time, however, more than 80% of the Korean residents consist of those born and raised in Japan, and the first generation Koreans make up less than 20% of the total population. In addition, over half of the marriages are to a Japanese spouse. Issues such as the transmission of Korean culture and the reformation of ethnic identity are being dealt with in an entirely new situation (see Kim C. 1977).
The Korean residents of Japan are "marginal" people caught between the entities of Korea and Japan. These Koreans face a number of problems while forming an extremely small minority within Japanese society (0.7% of 120 million).
From the earliest days of recorded history to the present time, four major religious traditions have developed on the Korean peninsula, and the current religious structure still includes these four strata (Ryu 1975, p. 9).
In the earliest days Shamanism was dominant among the folk, and also provided the basis for political rule which combined religion and the state. The religious and cultural scope of Shamanism covered a wide area from Siberia and northeastern China to the Korean peninsula, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Some scholars (Chang 1974, p. 16; Ch'oe 1978, p. 148) have raised doubts about using the term "Shamanism" as a catch-all term for the activities of Korean mediums (musok ** ). Here we will define it as a kind of possession-type Shamanism, following the categories given by Sasaki: all Shamanism has the common characteristic of trance, with the further characteristics of 1) ecstasy-type Shamanism, 2) possession-type Shamanism, and 3) a combination of these types (1984, p. 10). In the Korean language shamans are generally referred to as mudang, but among the people from Cheju Island and Osaka they are referred to as simbang. Shamanistic ceremonies are called kut.
Buddhism, transmitted to Korea in the fourth century
The Yi dynasty (1392-1910) was the age of Confucianism. It was not only the ideology of the ruling Yangban class, but almost all rites (funerals, weddings, and so forth) and official ceremonies were conducted according to the Confucian form. Buddhist monks and shamans were relegated to the lowest class and all Buddhist temples were destroyed in urban areas. However, the Buddhists possessed a large amount of forests and temples in the mountains, and by upholding austere lives of abstention from alcohol, meat, and conjugal ties, they maintained a major influence among the common people, especially the women, with regard to beliefs in worldly benefits. In other words, the common people believed that the recitation of sutras had a magical efficacy, and halls such as the Seven Star (Big Dipper) Hall *** and the Three Sages Hall *** within the temple precincts became centers for people to pray for good fortune. The main difference between Korean and Japanese Buddhism is that Korean temples do not perform funerals for the ancestors, and are thus not supported by permanent parishioners. Shamanism is also strongly supported by women, who hold a low position vis-…-vis men in Korean society, and the beliefs have been passed down for many generations despite strong suppression. Taoism has permeated Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shamanism in a variety of ways, but does not have its own organized institutions. Shamanism, Confucianism, and Buddhism have all influenced each other, but the distinctions of their social class are clear. This class structure with three religious traditions was formed during the Yi period but continues among Korean society to the present day.
Christianity is another important tradition today. Transmitted in the 18th century, it has shown explosive growth after the end of the Japanese occupation, and currently about 30% of the population professes to be Christian. It has surpassed all of the other religions and has the most influence among the people. There are also many new religious movements, such as the Chondogyo *** .
The religious activity of the Korean residents of Japan, on the other hand, combines revival of traditional beliefs (with some unique changes) and an assimilation of Japanese religions.
First, with regard to Christianity, there is no widespread growth like that on the Korean mainland. The main Protestant organization is the Zainichi Daikan Kirisuto Ky“kai S“kai ********** (Korean Christian Church in Japan), with fifty-eight churches claiming 4,803 members throughout Japan. Eleven of these churches, with 1,460 members, are located in Osaka (Zainichi Daikan Kirisuto Ky“kai S“kai 1985, pp. 175-176). The total number of Christians among Korean residents comes to less than 1%, even when taking into consideration the members of Catholic and other Protestant churches. This percentage is about the same as for Christians in Japan as a whole. On the other hand, the Korean Christian churches are actively involved in solving the topics of discrimination and human rights among Korean residents in Japan, and are having an important impact on Korean residents and Japanese society.
As for Buddhism, there are seven temples in Japan (two in Osaka, four in Tokyo, one in Kyoto) with 7,950 members (4,300 in Osaka, 2,150 in Tokyo, and 1,500 in Kyoto) belonging to the Choge sect, the main Buddhist organization in Korea. The headquarters are located at Fugen-ji *** in the Ikuno district of Osaka. This temple was built in 1968. However, it appears that the establishment of orthodox Buddhism lags behind the spontaneous acceptance of shamanistic beliefs or the proclamation of Christianity among resident Koreans. Temples of the Choge sect are in urban areas and rather inconspicuous, with the exception of the one in Kyoto, which is built in Korean style deep in the mountains and has begun to administer a large graveyard. Other Korean sects include the Taego sect, which has a number of temples. Some of the "Korean temples" which will be discussed below claim to belong to the Choge sect, but since the headquarters in Seoul does not recognize them as branch temples, they should rather be considered as particular examples of syncretistic folk religions.<$FBased on materials gathered in March 1983 at the headquarters of the Choge sect in Seoul, Korea.>
Confucianism still provides the fundamental moral structure for the daily life of resident Koreans, and plays an important role in providing ceremonies for funeral and ancestor rites. Respect for elders, dominance of male over female, ancestor worship, and kinship consciousness are all stronger among Korean residents than among the Japanese. Funeral rites in particular are still maintained in the traditional Confucian way, and serve as a reminder of their ethnic identity to younger Koreans, who are more conscious of being "Japanized" (Kim C. 1977, pp. 120-132). However, Confucianism as a religion has neither an organized institution nor educational system, and it appears that its moral influence is waning among the increasing number of Japan-born Korean residents.
Assimilation into or of various Japanese religious traditions is another phenomenon. It may be that since there are common basic elements between Korean and Japanese religion, such as the merging of animism and Shamanism and a this-worldly orientation, it is easy for this religious assimilation to occur. Some Korean residents go to Japanese Buddhist temples to request funerals or memorial services, and it is not unusual for them to visit famous Japanese temples and shrines to pray for worldly benefits such as prosperity in business or relief from disease. There are also some who are involved in Shugendo *** organizations<$FShugendo is a traditional syncretistic Japanese mountain religion which emphasizes practicing religious austerities in the mountains.> and actively participate in ascetic practices in the mountains or under waterfalls. People who have become simbang through cultivating shugen practices have created their own unique folk religion temples. These are the many so-called "Korean temples" found in the mountains near Osaka.
Shamanism in Korean society has been strongly supported through the years by women. There has been a revival of Korean Shamanism among residents in Japan, especially in the Osaka area. Here many small temples, called "Korean temples," have been established, combining the religious traditions of Shamanism, Buddhism, and Japanese Shugendo. General surveys of these "Korean temples" have been made available for the first time recently with the publication of reports by Helen Hardacre (1984) and the Sh–ky“ Shakaigaku no Kai (1985, pp. 235-296). The present author participated in the joint survey of the Sh–ky“ Shakaigaku no Kai.<$FThis joint survey was conducted from 1982 to 1984 with Shiobara Tsutomu (Osaka University), Ashida Tetsur“ (Kumamoto University), Tani Tomio (Hiroshima Women's College), and Akiba Yutaka (Osaka University).> In this article I will introduce the "Korean temples" and discuss their significance for contemporary society.
The Religious Geography of the "Korean temples."
The majority of the "Korean temples" are located in or at the entrances of the numerous valleys of the Ikoma mountain range, which serves as the boundary between Osaka and Nara Prefecture. Some are located to the north in Hy“go Prefecture, in the valleys of the Rokk“ mountains. Both of these areas are about thirty to forty minutes by train or car from Osaka. They are built in narrow valleys or at the foot of a mountain, quite distinct from usual residential areas.
The Ikoma mountain range runs about fifteen kilometers from north to south, and is about five kilometers wide from west to east, with the highest peak reaching up to 642 meters. Various religious activity has unfolded in this area from ancient times. The myths of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki relate that the Mononobe clan, which assisted in the establishment of the Yamato state, enshrined as their ancestral god one who descended from heaven and landed on Mt. Ikoma. The agricultural society at the foot of these mountains relied for their farming on the mountains as the source of its water supply. The god of the mountain was worshipped sometimes as the god of water, and its image was that of a dragon or snake. The western side of Mt. Ikoma is covered with many steep and narrow gorges, and the resulting waterfalls have served as places of ascetic practice for religious mediums (rein“sha *** ). It is believed that one can attain magical or shamanistic powers by confining oneself in these mountains and undertaking ascetic practices such as standing under a waterfall and chanting sacred texts. Thus ascetics of the Shugendo tradition, "faith healers" (kit“shi *** ), and Buddhist monks have built many hermitages or small temples within the Ikoma mountains.
In the modern period, as Osaka grew into the largest center of business in Japan, the temples of the Ikoma mountains became a popular place for urban dwellers to visit, both as a center for religious beliefs to attain worldly benefits and as a place for relaxation and sight-seeing. Unlike the great temples and shrines of Kyoto and Nara which could boast of prestige and cultural treasures, the Ikoma temples could attract people with religious activities closely tied to the lives of the common people. These temples could not rely on old traditions or authorities, but rather had to compete by adopting with the times and embracing beliefs in worldly benefits. This area has not been controlled by a single religious authority; neither was it an area in which only the customs of a traditional agricultural society were endlessly repeated. As the urban society of Osaka developed, the mundane desires of the common people, seeking magico-religious solutions, led them to incline toward the Ikoma mountains, thus giving birth to various forms of folk religion. In this sense the folk religion of the Ikoma mountains can be said to be an urban and liberating phenomenon. Even today, not counting the shrines and temples which deal only with the local society, there are over one hundred and twenty temples, shrines, and churches, from the large establishments (such as Ishikiri Jinja **** , H“zan-ji *** , Ch“go Sonshi-ji ***** ) which attract millions of pilgrims, to middle and small sized institutions, all of them repeating cycles of prosperity and decline. It is no wonder that the area is called a "supermarket of the gods" and a "treasure house of folk religions."
The "Korean temples" have been established in this area by the Korean residents mostly since after the war (1945), though a few were started before the war, and have added a new dimension to the religious traditions of Ikoma. Our survey discovered a total of about sixty temples in the Ikoma area. There is no other place in Japan where such a dense collection of Korean religious institutions are to be found, and it is rare even in Korea. There are also a number of such temples in the Mt. Rokk“ range in Hy“go Prefecture, and places for rent to perform kut along the riversides in Osaka and along the seaside in the southern part of Osaka. Chart I is a list of these "Korean Temples" and kut meeting halls.
"Korean temples" are particularly densely concentrated in the Zushi valley (twelve temples, Kamiishikiri-ch“), Nukata valley (ten temples, Yamate-ch“), and Narukawa valley (six temples, Kamishij“), with a heavy concentration also at the foot of the mountains in Yao City (sixteen temples) and Ikoma City (eight temples). These temples are conveniently located within ten kilometers of areas with large Korean populations. However, the question remains as to why these temples were built in the valleys of the Ikoma mountains rather than in the towns where the people live. The answer is that, first, these are locations where the rituals of Korean Shamanism are performed. These rituals involve long periods of the loud playing of percussion instruments, which would be cause for complaints in urban areas. Small-scale rituals, on the other hand, are usually performed at the client's home or at a rented hall (or temple) near the riverside. In the case of large-scale rituals which take from three days to a week to perform, there is the need for a location which has overnight facilities and where one can beat drums without restraint. In addition, both the Japanese and Korean people share a common cultural heritage in accepting the religious significance of mountains. The traditional religiosity of the Ikoma mountains was easy for the resident Koreans to accept. As can be seen in the Korean myth of the founding of the nation, mountains are a place where the gods descend on their way to the world of human beings. It was also common for graves to be located in the mountains, thus serving as a realm where the spirits of the dead go. Also, all the large, old temples in Korea are located in the mountains.
Large, high mountains are considered sacred, pure space; smaller mountains located near urban, commercial areas (like those at Ikoma) have ambiguous meaning, as places where the sacred and profane, the pure and impure, are combined. It is a marginal area of both the cities and the mountains, the realm of the living and the dead, Japan and Korea. The Korean mediums cultivate their spiritual powers as simbang there and create their own base. In Korea, shamanistic ceremonies [
The "Korean temples," like the other small and medium-sized temples in Ikoma, experience rather short cycles of prosperity and decline. The relationship between the simbang and clients is unstable, and as the simbang's physical or spiritual power wanes, the clients also disappear and the temple fades away. It is unusual for a family member or disciple to carry on the work. There have even been several changes which have come to our attention since we finished our survey in 1984 [see Chart I].
The Form and Function of the "Korean Temples"
The "Korean temples" range in size from about one hundred to a few hundred tsubo (one tsubo = 3.3 square meters), all on the small side. The principal facilities are the main hall (hond“ ** ), a hall for shamanistic rituals (fusaij“ *** ), a Seven Star (Big Dipper) Hall, a waterfall for ascetic practice, and dwellings.
The presence of a hond“ underscores the claim that these are Buddhist temples. Usually a statue of Shaka (<211>ƒkyamuni) adorns the central place on the altar, surrounded by statues of Kannon (Avalokite<212>vara), Fud“ (Acalƒ), Jiz“ (K.sitigarbha), and so forth. Picture scrolls of the deities of the Seven Stars (Big Dipper), the mountains, and the sea are hung on the walls. Often these deities are enshrined in their own detached shrine. The deities of the Seven Stars are from the Taoist tradition, and have been assimilated into Korean folk religion along with the indigenous deities of the mountains and sea. Buddhist temples in Korea often include, besides the main hall, a Seven Star Hall or Three Sages Hall in which are enshrined the deities of the Seven Stars, the mountain deities, and the Dokuson ** or the dragon deities. This is probably due to the influence of the belief in the sea deity and other deities familiar to Cheju Islanders.
The ritual hall often serves also as the residence of the head priest, and usually consists of three or four rooms of a six to eight mat size, with a kitchen and closets. Normally there are no objects of worship or religious symbols contained in this building, and an alter is constructed only when needed for the performance of a shamanistic ritual called kut. The simbang and the clients stay in this dwelling during the performance of the kut. In Korea it is normally unthinkable that a kut would be performed in a traditional Buddhist temple. The social status of a Buddhist priest in Korea is not necessarily high, but that of a shaman is definitely low. It is also true that elements of folk religion such as beliefs in the deities of the Seven Stars and the mountain gods have been assimilated into Buddhism, but the class difference between Buddhist monks and shamans is strictly observed. There is a report that kut has been performed at a small number of private temples (Im D. 1981, Kim T. 1981) in Korea, but the details are unknown.
The fact that most of the "Korean temples" include a place for ascetic practice under a waterfall is a unique characteristic which sets them off from religious facilities in Korea. Some of these waterfalls are natural ones, but most have been built artificially by utilizing the sides of a valley to assemble stones and construct a waterfall of a few meters in height. There are many waterfalls in Ikoma, and the Korean mediums and simbang have actively sought out the waterfalls to cultivate ascetic practices, founding their own "temples" by rebuilding sites which have fallen into ruin when the former resident had no successor. Although recently the waterfalls of these "Korean temples" are not used very often for religious practice, they are thought to be, along with the hond“, one of the necessary components of a "temple."
There is also a dwelling place for the priest apart from the ritual hall if the temple is big enough. In case the priest is a simbang, she usually lives in town and goes to the temple only for the performance of rituals.
The difference in sect does not seem to have much affect on the kind of activity at the "Korean temples." The Choge sect is, as mentioned above, a Korean sect, and the Ikoma temples (nine) might have had some particular reason to claim alliance with this sect. The Wonhyo sect *** (one temple) is also a Korean sect. The Shingon-sh– Daigo-ha ****** (five temples) and Shugen Honsh– **** (three temples) are representative sects of Japanese Shugendo. The Shingon-sh– K“ya-san Daishi Ky“kai ******* (four temples) is a movement which attempts to unify shugen practitioners and faith healers (kit“shi), but the activities of this sect at Ikoma are not significantly different from the other shugen related temples. Others include Shingon-sh– (five temples, sub-sect unknown), Nichiren-sh– *** (one temple), Hoss“-sh– *** (one temple), and ›baku-sh– *** (one temple). Over half of the temples do not claim any sectarian affiliation.
The shamanistic activity of the "Korean temples" will be discussed below. Their activities include daily services based on the chanting of sutras, and annual Buddhist observances, particularly <211>ƒkyamuni's birthday (8 April) and shichisei-sai *** (the "Star Festival," 7 September).
Korean Simbang in Japan
I have already discussed the Korean simbang who have founded the "Korean Temples." There are also many simbang who do not have their own temples but go to a client's home or rent a temple in Ikoma to perform kut. A kut is performed by groups of several members, and each group maintains a loose network of contacts. There is fierce competition between simbang and their groups, and there is no organization which unites them. It is not clear how many simbang there are, but I will discuss the simbang which I observed and heard during our survey on the "Korean temples" [See Chart II].
@CHART TITLE =
@TAB-2-IIDA =
@TAB-2-IIDA = Male simbang 1
@TAB-2-IIDA = Female priest 3
@TAB-2-IIDA = Male priest 19
@TAB-2-IIDA = (recently arrived from Korea 3)
@TAB-2-IIDA = Others 5
@TAB-2-IIDA = Religiously inactive 5
@TAB-2-IIDA = Unknown 7
@TAB-2-IIDA = Total 63
Female simbang who are in charge of a temple are called bosaru ** (Bodhisattva). This is a title used in Korea generally for Buddhist nuns or devout Buddhist lay women. Performing kut is the major occupation of these women, although they are also expected to perform the daily reading of the sutras and some annual Buddhist observances. There are also some women priests ("temple head") in charge of temples who are not simbang, who are bosaru in the original sense of the term. Former simbang who have are no longer able to perform shamanistic activities often manage a temple and rent it as a place for kut. Most of the priests have received their qualifications from a Shugendo or Shingon headquarters. This is the reason why many of the "Korean temples" claim to belong to Shugendo or Shingon sects. These sects put more emphasis on the individual activities of the religious practitioner rather than on adherence to certain doctrines or institutions, so a lower level qualification as a priest can be obtained easily upon completion of certain practices and remunerations. Also, the general public in Japan does not feel contempt toward shamanistic ascetics or faith healers, and so unlike in Korea, their activity to become Buddhists is not restricted. These qualifications are often merely a pretext, but there are a few male priests who can be said to be proper shugen priests. Even such temples, however, rent out their facilities for the performance of kut, and often the priest participates in the ceremony by reading sutras.
A list of religionists according to place of origin is shown in Chart III.
@CHART TITLE =
@TAB-2-IIDA = Cheju do 17
@TAB-2-IIDA = Kyongsang nam do 10
@TAB-2-IIDA = Kyongsang buk do 3
@TAB-2-IIDA = Kyongsang do 2
@TAB-2-IIDA = (unknown nam or buk)
@TAB-2-IIDA = Cholla nam do 2
@TAB-2-IIDA = Chungchong buk do 1
@TAB-2-IIDA = Kangwon do 1
@TAB-2-IIDA = P'yongan do 1
@TAB-2-IIDA = Born in Japan 2
@TAB-2-IIDA = Japanese 2
@TAB-2-IIDA = Unknown 22
@TAB-2-IIDA = Total 63
Let us examine a few typical cases of Korean simbang in Japan:
@CASETITTLE = * ›mura Kimiko, female, simbang/bosaru of Seikoku-ji (No. 14).
@CASEP = Born in 1921 in Chungchong buk do, and called to Japan by her father in 1925, ›mura now has Japanese citizenship. She experienced spiritual inspirations from the time she was a child, and from her twenties she cultivated ascetic practices under a waterfall at Fushimi Inari in Kyoto for thirteen years, and learned to distinguish between deities. She had no teacher but practiced by herself. She continued her practice under the waterfall so much that the top of her head became bald. In 1952 she and her husband, who was also a medium, built the present temple at the former site of a water wheel. Her husband died in 1977. In 1983 she rebuilt the main hall. Between five and six hundred candles are donated at the time of the celebration of <211>ƒkyamuni's birthday.
@CASEP = ›mura is still active and performs kut. Her followers come from Osaka, Tokyo, Hokkaido, and even Pusan in Korea. Sometimes they visit her, and sometimes she visits them. Occasionally she performs kut in Japanese homes. She says, "If I touch your body I can tell your disease immediately. Diseases caused by the curse of a spirit can be healed, except those which have burrowed deep into the bone." She has many disciples. Her daughter recently experienced a possession, and is expected to succeed her mother. Since an organization of believers is too troublesome, so she does not make one.
4 SPACE = /4 SPACE =
As an example of a female simbang who has her own temple, this case deserves top mention. This temple is now enjoying peak prosperity.
@CASETITTLE = * Song Kwi-Re, female, simbang/bosaru of Tokusei-ji (No. 30).
@CASEP = Born in 1912 in Cholla nam do. Says that "I came to Japan with my husband when I was twenty-three, and suffered much when I was young. When I asked the Japanese gods they said I would die unless I followed this path. I began healing diseases and telling fortunes at the age of thirty-two. I taught myself how to read the sutras and perform kut. (The temple was built in 1951, and she received her qualifications from the Shingon-sh– Kokubun-ji sect in 1978.) Now I have no one to rely on and only my disease is left. My followers don't come any more. Everyone is so heartless. . ." This is an example of the decay of a temple along with the decline of its bosaru. However, the activity of the temple has not come to a complete halt. A new Mizuko Kuy“-d“ ***** (hall for memorializing aborted babies) has been built, and recently a Korean monk has arrived to act temporarily as a priest. The temple is also lent out for the performance of kut.
@CASEP = These two examples illustrate the typical career of a female simbang. Born in Korea and arriving in Japan before the war, they suffer from various ailments (including spiritual ones), become mediums after practicing under a waterfall at the advice of a Korean or Japanese folk religionist, perform kut for healing or other magical favors and gather an increasingly large number of followers, and build a temple at Ikoma. At the present time over half of the simbang in their sixties or seventies have retired and are facing the problem of succession for their temples.<$FRecently I heard that both of these two simbang have passed away, ›mura in 1987 and Song in 1984.>
4 SPACE = /4 SPACE =
The following example is unusual in that it concerns a legitimate male simbang who came to Japan after the war. However, it illustrates well the intensity of change facing Ikoma temples, the society of people from Cheju Island in Osaka, and current Japanese-Korean relationships.
4 SPACE = /4 SPACE =
@CASETITTLE =
@CASEP = Born in Cheju Island, Korea, in 1930. His father was also a simbang. As a youth he loathed the idea of becoming a simbang, and was involved in the movement to abolish superstition. After getting married and serving a stint in the military, he bought fishing boats and began fishing along the coast, but ended in failure. From about this time he began to suffer from diseases of uncertain cause and which would not heal with modern medical treatment. He became a believer of Christianity and then Buddhism but his disease only got worse. Though he resisted it at first, he finally participated in a kut performed by simbang and his disease was healed. He performed a simkut (a ritual of passage to become a simbang) and was well received as a legitimate simbang. As his children grew older and suffered from discrimination as children of simbang, he quit his activity as a simbang and returned to the fishing industry, but in vain. In 1962 he abandoned everything and smuggled himself into Japan. He had no means to support himself, but was invited to join a group of simbang. However, he was secretly reported to the authorities and deported back to Korea. He tried to smuggle himself back into Japan in 1969, but the boat was wrecked and he failed. He then reached the highest level of simbang in Cheju Island. He tried to enter Japan secretly for the third time in 1976 and this time succeeded. First he went to H“toku-ji (No. 8) in Ikoma, where the priest urged him to become a Buddhist monk. He studied the sutras but couldn't get used to them, and returned to being a simbang. He worked under a Mr. Song,<$FSong was born on Cheju Island in 1914, and built H“k“-ji in 1951. He was married to a Ms. Pak, a Cheju Island born simbang who was a relative of Mr. Kim. He received a qualifications certificate from the Shugen Honsh–, Daikan Bukky“kai ***** (Headquarters of Korean Buddhists), and the Shingon-sh– Daigo sect. He passed away in 1982.> a priest of H“k“-ji (No. 33) in Narukawa-tani. In 1982 he turned himself in to the Bureau of Immigration, and finally received a special resident's permit w
@CASEP = Kim became head priest of H“k“-ji in 1983. However, the very next year he transferred his affiliation to the next-door Gokuraku-ji (No. 34), and a monk dwelling at Ry–sh–-ji (No. 43) who had just arrived in Japan in 1982 became a new priest at H“k“-ji. Due to complications Kim was late in reporting his "change of work location" to the city office, and had to spend two weeks in a house of detention while the situation was investigated.<$FForeigners in Japan (of which 82% are Korean) are closely regulated by the Immigration Bureau and the police, and any delay in reporting a change in recorded items (within fourteen days) is cause to treat the subject as a defendant in a criminal case. See Kang 1987, p. 110.> Although Kim feels a strong sense of pride and responsibility with regard to his performing kut, he says that he always wants to quit this work.
@CASEP = There are now two groups in Osaka who faithfully maintain the Cheju Island traditions and can put on a large scale (week-long) kut. A three to five-day kut is common in Ikoma, with six or seven simbang participating. Kim is the leader of one of these groups. His group consists entirely of members born on Cheju Island, ranging in age from their thirties to their seventies. All except one are female. His wife (in her fifties) and another woman (in her thirties) are currently in training. The male member (in his seventies) comes from Tokyo to help out. The other two female members (one in her sixties and one in her seventies) are veteran simbang. The veteran members each have their own clients and undertake kut, and also ask Kim to help when needed. Thus the simbang are relatively independent yet involved in an informal network. Simbang from Cheju Island who visit Japan temporarily also help out with the kut. Kim will go anywhere in response to a request to perform a kut, but his main areas of activity are in temples such as Gokuraku-ji and Shintoku-in (No. 50). The later was built in 1966 by Korean monks as a temple of the Shingon-sh– Daigo sect. When a new priest took over, the name was changed to H“ten-ji. However, he became ill, so an adopted son (a Mr. Lee of the Wonhyo school) of one the founders (Mr. Hong) was called from Korea in 1985 to serve as the priest. The name and sectarian affiliation were changed back to their original ones at this time.
4 SPACE = /4 SPACE =
We can see that there is a great deal of change and uncertainty even among the temples associated with Kim.<$FIn April 1988 Kim bought a temple, Dairin-ji (No. 46), and re-named it Daik“-in.> There are unordained simbang who follow their own program of practice and learning ceremonies and the reading of sutras, and there are also legitimate simbang who, like the members of Kim's group, became simbang by going through the traditional process. Large-scale kut is rarely performed these days on Cheju Island, but they are performed frequently in the Osaka-Ikoma area. Also, on Cheju Island most of the simbang are involved in other occupations (such as farming), but in Japan most are full-time simbang. The reason for these differences is that in Korea strong political pressures were brought to bear in order to achieve modernization, and Shamanism suffered various attacks as a "superstition," while in Japan this kind of political pressure did not exist. Also, in the midst of the economic prosperity of Japan, though the Koreans have suffered from discrimination, they can afford to support a kut, which is very expensive. The lifestyle of those involved in agriculture or fishing on Cheju Island is very different from that of Osaka, but the demand for kut has not disappeared. In fact one could even say that it is a better business in Japan. The competition among the simbang is very intense, and there is some hostility between the groups. Also, the traditional disdain for simbang continues to be felt among Korean residents in Japan. However, as long as there is a religious demand, recruitment of simbang will continue among the Korean residents in Japan and from the home country of Korea, and it is likely that Korean Shamanism will continue to survive among the Koreans in Japan.
The "Korean temples" have served to revive Korean Shamanism while combining Korean Buddhism with Japanese shugen-type folk religion. What are the religious reasons for this development? Hardacre offers two reasons (1984, p. 64):
1. Since the practice and career of a simbang were formed after coming to Japan without any legitimate process, the various religious elements experienced in their lives were assimilated into their activity at the "Korean temples."
2. For female clients, traditional Shamanism and Buddhism mutually supplement each other, in that both deal with belief in attaining worldly benefits. Thus the combination of both under the rubric of the "Korean temples" was quite welcome.
Four further points could be made.
3. The simbang could claim a higher status in religious ranking by emphasizing their identity as Buddhists.
4. Orthodox Buddhist temples were slow to respond to the needs of the resident Korean society in Japan,<$FA legitimate temple of the Choge sect, Fugen-ji, for example, was not built until 1968.> so there were few social restrictions to maintain the boundary between Buddhism and Shamanism.
5. The Shugendo schools of Japanese Buddhism already included many varieties of mediumistic activity, and were open to accepting the Korean shamans.
6. The Ikoma mountains in the suburbs of Osaka have traditionally been a breeding ground for a variety of folk religions. The existence of waterfalls for ascetic practice assisted in forming this new type of folk religion called "Korean temples." These waterfalls served an important role in the simbang's practice and became the base on which the temples were built.
The Concept of Spirits and Ritual Process in Shamanism.
The world of Korean Shamanism is supported by an animistic and polytheistic belief in spirits. The pantheon includes deities such as the heavenly emperor, the gods of the Seven Stars, the mountain god, the dragon (sea) god, the god of childbirth, and the ancestral deity of shamans; there are also the ten kings of hell and their officers; there are the genii of the village, the spirits of the dead, plants and animals, and all sorts of demonic beings (Hyun 1985, pp. 145-169). Japanese deities such as Sh“toku Taishi, K“b“ Daishi, Hachiman, Inari, and gods of the Ikoma mountains are also enshrined.
Korean Shamanism has many variations according to its locale. The strong trance with possession found in the north becomes weaker towards the south, where the message of the Cheju Island deities is given through divination rather than possession (Hyun 1985, p. 41). However, the proclamation of the simbang through possession by a spirit of the dead is an indispensable part of the kut of Cheju Island, and thus contains a clear characteristic of Shamanism.
The shamanistic rituals performed at Osaka-Ikoma consist mostly of ceremonies presided over by a housewife who presents petitions for her family. On Cheju Island, village festivals used to be performed, but there is no such occasion among the resident Koreans in Japan which is celebrated for the local area or group as a whole. The purposes of the ceremony include the healing of disease, prayers requesting the birth of a child, family problems, and memorials for the dead or the ancestors. Various misfortunes are attributed to the spirits of the dead who suffer an unhappy death and are insufficiently memorialized, or to local deities who have not been treated properly. Dealing with these spirits is generally the major theme of a kut. It is also believed that all deities, spirits, and various demons should be invited to participate, so that they do not become resentful. Funerals are usually conducted in the Confucian style, but after the ceremony it is usual for the women to gather around the simbang for a memorial service for the dead.
In the Osaka-Ikoma area the shamanistic rituals are called ogami ** or kuy“ ** (in Japanese) as well as kut. The Cheju Island-style kut is performed as follows. First a large ten meter pole is raised in the precincts of the temple, and this is decorated with numerous flags or banners. One side of a long white cloth is tied to the top of the pole, and the other side is affixed in a criss-cross pattern to the ceiling of the room wherein the ritual is held. These symbolize the pillar and bridge by which the deities and spirits follow and descend to the ritual place. An all-out kut which lasts for over a week is made up of over twenty rites, each with their own individual theme and form.
In each of these rites the leading deities are invited to descend and act out their role one by one. At each rite all of the other deities are also invited to descend. Only the "sending away" of the deities is performed all at once at the end of a large ceremony. Each of the rites maintains its own independent structure and a large kut consists of a stringing together of these rites. This structure of a kut also contains many undefined or spontaneous elements.<$FThat the ceremonies observed by Hardacre appeared unstructured, having "no single theme" (1984, p. 53), might have been due to the presence of many of these undefined elements.>
The Rite of the Ten Kings (j–“sai *** ) is considered important and is particularly popular among these many rites. It is often performed all by itself. The "ten kings" are the ten deities who rule over the ten realms of hell, as taught in Chinese Buddhism. The spirits of the dead are captured by the servants of these ten kings and brought to the entrance to hell. Here they are judged by the ten kings. The dead, however, are not tortured on the basis of their moral responsibilities, but continue to suffer the misfortunes and resentments from their former lives. A great memorial offering which can be given by the living is to moderate the resentment of the dead and the anger of the ten kings, and thus influence this judicial process. The special feature of this rite is that the spirits of the dead go through a process in which they are transformed into protective deities by passing through the twelve gates of the ten rulers of hell, and this is realized through an impressive mimetic scene (see Iida 1987).
However, a family's happiness and the complete purification of the spirits of the dead cannot be accomplished in one ritual. Kut must be performed over and over in order to continue to pacify the spirits.
Social and Cultural Significance of Korean Shamanism in Japan
Among resident Koreans, Shamanism is supported mainly by wives of first generation Koreans. In male society the beliefs in and rituals of Shamanism are considered superstition, and usually men do not participate in kut. The fact that kut require a large expense account is another reason for men to oppose the performance of kut. Even a short one requires tens of thousands of yen, and a major kut can cost from hundreds of thousands to millions of yen. However, if a housewife feels the need, she will raise the necessary funds, even hiding it from her husband or getting into a family fight in order to have a kut performed.
The two-layered, mutually supplementary cultural principles of Confucianism = male and Shamanism = female is considered a characteristic of Korean culture (Akiba T. 1980, p. 137). It was the tradition of Shamanism which satisfied the interest in spiritual, religious matters which were denied by Confucian rationalism. This Shamanism was supported through the years by the women, who sought ecstatic religious liberation as a release from the strong sense of repression (han, see Lee O. 1982) which they experienced in their male-centered families. Also, the Confucian culture which one-sidedly favored idealistic legitimacy and disdained "pragmatic" responses, proved powerless in the difficult historical situation which the Koreans experienced under Japanese rule. In this situation it was the women who supported the work in the home, and the women still have the strongest power in the home.
The women among the Korean residents in Japan each know a number of simbang and they mutually compare the reputations of the simbang. The relations between simbang and petitioners are not fixed, though they are bound together in an informal network. If a simbang performs effective kut, these relations may deepen, or, on the other hand, the clients may no longer need his services. The occasion of a kut may bring together daughters and in-laws and other female relatives, thus providing the opportunity for a "transient communitas" among those of a common ethnic culture (Hardacre 1984, p. 67). The shamanistic faith is passed on to the generation of Koreans born in Japan through participation in such kut. However, often the younger people do not agree to participate, and there are cases when the petitioner is the only participant. A large-scale kut can be held as a culmination of the past history of a family (Iida 1987, p. 133). Recently there have been cases of economically successful families sponsoring kut as an expression of gratitude to their ancestors, in which even the husband has participated. However, in these cases the husband does not wish that his participation become widely known.
Finally, let us examine the social and cultural significance which Shamanism has in contemporary Korean society in Japan. As mentioned above, the simbang still suffer from some discrimination within Korean society in Japan. The fact that the simbang have a certain status within the informal daily network of the Korean women does not mean that this discrimination is liquidated. One reason given for this discrimination is that the simbang's work involves coming in contact with "impurity" (kegare * * ). This "impurity" refers to the attributes of the spirits of the dead and various demons which are resentful and bring about misfortunes. According to Durkheim, the evil nature of the spirits of the dead is none other than an expression of the collective misfortune of a society (1912, p. 590). Ordinarily, the impurity of death is "purified" through the ritual of mourning, and the normality of the community is restored (p. 575). However, the misfortunes which have historically accumulated among the Koreans in Japan is a basis for an immense store of spiritual evil which cannot be easily "purified." The simbang are professionally involved in this realm of the spirits of the dead and continue to suffer a caste-like discrimination. This cannot be explained merely as the remains of a traditional concept, but rather has its roots in the collective misfortunes of the Korean people and the Korean residents in Japan. The discrimination towards the simbang among Korean residents in Japan is rooted in the history of the formation of the Korean society in Japan, and in the social structure of Japan which even today continues to reproduce discrimination.
Shamanism, for the Korean women in Japan, is a means to religiously resolve serious problems in their daily life. It also functions, through the performance of the kut ritual, as a way to reconfirm their ethnic and cultural identity. Folk religion is not something limited to the world of pre-modern customs in agricultural societies, but is a living tradition which is developing further among modern urban dwellers on the basis of a fundamental ethnic religious consciousness. Folk religion in Japan has served as the womb from which many new religious movements have been born in modern times (Shimazono 1978, p. 38). New religions or mass movements can develop on the basis of the patterns of thinking and religiosity of folk religion. It has been pointed out that the concept of deities found in Shamanism is one factor which supports the extensive progress made by Christianity in Korean society (Ryu T. 1975, p. 34). Also, the development of songs and dance, theater, literature, and so forth in Korean culture is profoundly related to Shamanism. This cultural tradition is now being reevaluated by young people in modern Korea and Korean residents in Japan. In this sense the tradition of Shamanism should not be lightly dismissed as an irrational superstition among first-generation housewives, but can serve the young generation of Korean residents in Japan as a legacy for the formation of a new culture and identity.
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