Monk!

Religion in Japan. Right. Ahem. This topic is probably the topic of numerous weighty tomes by lifetime scholars but I`ll attempt to cover it in a short blog for the benefit of you, my vast and credulous readership who could, at any moment, desert me for the relevant wikipedia page.
The Japanese, unique among developed nations, accomodate two major religions side-by-side. These are shinto, the older pantheistic religion, and buddhism, which came, like many aspects of Japanese culture, originally from China, at some point in the misty past.
Interesting thing: Shintoism has no concept of a life after death. It seems to be all about imprecating different Gods (thunder, rain, wind, etc) for good fortune in this life.
And that`s probably why Buddhism makes such a nice spiritual bedfellow. You probably already know as much as me about Buddhist beliefs on reincarnation and coming back as a different part of the natural world (i.e. not very much, but you get the general idea).
Hhhm, all of a sudden I have less confidence in what I`ve written. I`ve just asked Yuuka and she says she`s never heard of Shinto. But I`ll accomodate that into my theory anyway, which is that Buddhism does a much better job of that all-important aspect of religion - turning a profit. All the Buddhist temples are loaded with charm sellers, with different charms for diverse matters as specific as keeping your luggage safe on a long journey. They also have o-mikuji, which is where you pay 100 yen (50p) and choose at random a paper telling you what your luck is going to be. From what I`ve seen of Yuuka`s family, they take these quite seriously, and bad luck from a mikuji is a cause for alarm and discomfort. So much so that they might pay another 100 yen for a second go.
Sure, sure, these slot machines for the soul fulfil people`s needs, and there`s not going to be so much money in it for the temples. Think of all the paper they have to buy, and the incence - for all I know they barely cover overheads. But yesterday Yuuka`s family told me about another aspect of Japanese buddhism that I had no idea about.
When I first rolled up at the front door on sunday (a little nervous) I was immediately whisked through to the living room of Granpasan`s ground floor flat to `meet Obajan`. Almost certain Granny had passed away, I wondered what was going on, but actually I just followed Yuuka`s example in kneeling before a kind of shrine which had been created at the fireplace. Candles were lit, incence burned, and we both prayed (though I have to say I just looked at Granny`s photo and felt, slightly eerily, that she was looking back at me). Apparently however, it is not only me and the family, who do the praying. Tomorrow, a monk from the nearby temple - a notorious womaniser, so they say - will come to perform his monthly benediction. You`ve guessed it - this is not a free service. When a Japanese dies, their family pay a vast sum - at their direction - to ensure their spirit receives a favourable reincarnation. Your prestige in the next world depends on how long a name you get - the longer the name, the more it costs. Your money also buys monthly visits from a monk (the more you pay the higher the level of monk) who chants and does other monk-like stuff. I ventured to ask Yuuka how much her Granpa (very old, very fearful of death) wants to leave to the Jinja (temple). When I named what I thought was a ludicrous figure - in the hundreds of thousands of pounds - she said it would be much more than that. Oh my God! If every Japanese death is followed up by these kind of payments, the temples must be wealthy beyond belief. What I can`t tell you is what they do with their money. Do they dutifully invest it in new robes and training manuals, save it up for a rainy day, or buy shares in missile defence companies? Are the Yakuza gangs involved in the whole business?
Tomorrow your correspondent will meet the womanising monk, and, if not find the answers to these questions, at least tell you if he tries it on with my girlfriend, her mother, her sister, or even me (if I wear a yellow kimono and bat my lashes). Til then. Mata atode