How Did Buddhism Influence Japanese Politics

When Buddhism was imported from China to Japan, it brought over a full political force with it. Buddhism had a crucial role in helping develop medieval Japanese politics. Though it started with the elite then made its way to the peoples of japan, Buddhism slowly entwined into Japanese culture. It first established its self in the Nara courts when The Soga took over First, it is important to observe a brief history on how Buddhism made its way into japan to understand its true influence. Buddhism in its original form, was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism main principles are the four noble truths and a cycle of rebirth and death in the goal to eventually no longer be reborn and reach nirvana. The pre-Buddhist India Barhmanical teachings

The Soga were the some of the earliest patrons for Buddhism, unlike the other clans who were still strong believers in Shinto. This was the first big shift in Japanese politics. Buddhism at first was very exclusive. Only practiced by the elites in The Nara courts. This made Buddhism more of a political entity then a traditionally religious one. In the shift to the Nara period, patrons of Buddhism at first were less interested in bring Buddhism to all the peoples of japan, and were more interested in increasing their political and economic strength. Buddhism was an effective vessel to import Chinese ideals. The capital at Nara was modeled after Chang'an, the capital city of Tang China. Anyone who was important in Nara (Rulers and Elites) were practicing Buddhism. Many Buddhist Temples were constructed inside Nara giving them lots of advantage to be very influential. A huge temple was constructed on the eastern edge of Nara in the middle of the eighth century. Its name, Todaiji (Great Eastern Temple), reflects its location in the capital but perhaps also Japan’s status as a Buddhist country on the edge of the civilized world, out in the ocean to the east of China and India. At this time, China was among one of the biggest influences in Japan from politics to the arts. Japan effectively became modeled after China. Its hard to say if Buddhism was an influence to adopt other Chinses ideals or if Chinese Ideals were the reason Buddhism was adopted. Buddhism political effect grew, the imperial family tried to escape its power. In part to escape the influence if the powerful Nara Buddhist temples that the imperial capital was permanently moved from Nara in