The Zenkoji Temple (善光寺, Zenkōji) is the star attraction of Nagano. It was founded in the 7th century and housed the first Buddhist statue brought into Japan when Buddhism arrived in the 6th century. The temple is central to the development of Nagano, the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Many major Japanese cities evolved from castles and harbours, but Nagano developed around the Zenkoji Temple.
When we visited the temple (Spring 2023), the tourists had already returned in large numbers (after the Covid 19 travel restrictions were lifted.) The hotels were fully booked. We visited Nagano as a day trip from our base in Matsumoto. The most exciting part of the temple was in the backyard, away from the crowds. We had the whole place to ourselves except for a tourist or two. Three unusual memorials were dedicated to the spirits of undelivered letters, flowers used in floral arrangements, and souls of deserted graves.
The three memorials are Shinto in spirit. Although Zenkoji Temple is Buddhist, as elsewhere in Japan, both religions coexist harmoniously. One of the Shinto teachings, animism, is the belief that everything (even non-living things) has a spirit. Undelivered letters, departed flowers, and old graves have spirits that should remain alive in our memories.
The souls of the letters must be unfortunate indeed. No one has read their contents; the senders must be worried and the expecting recipient anxious. Are they still anxious or worried? Or are they no longer around?
I have visited many old graves. The more recent ones remain well-kept. The old resting places crumble, and no one living remembers them. I can imagine the same fate awaiting me, visited initially and, just like all other graves, fade eventually into oblivion.
What about the flowers? They have the shortest life span. I don’t buy cut flowers. They may look pretty, but I don’t like the thought of sacrificing them for our satisfaction. The sacrificed flowers could have lived their short lifespan and completed their journeys producing fruits or seeds for the next generation.
And so, everything we see has an unseen spirit. This spirit is the origin of the Japanese aversion to waste –もったいないor Mottanai, which expresses a sense of guilt, regret, or sorrow felt for the act of wasting.
To be continued: Mottainai II – Wasted Talent and Time.
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
