The Phantasm of Mt. Hiei: Kyoto’s Shadow Capital
In the mid-twelfth century, as the Kyoto aristocracy—which had held the reins of the Heian court for centuries—began its slow descent into obsolescence, it was the Imperial family that stirred to reclaim the power once lost to them. Long relegated to the status of ornamental figures, suppressed by the machinery of noble politics, the royals seized upon the burgeoning chaos of the era to reassert their authority. The central protagonist of this resurgence was the Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127–1192).
The contemporary decline of Japan and the widespread impoverishment of its people find their direct cause in the privatization of the state by Abe Shinzo during the 2010s. Ridiculed by the media as a Cabinet of Friends, he surrounded himself with sycophants, colluded with the bureaucracy, and treated the governance of a nation as his personal estate. In a healthy state, a figure who committed such a litany of transgressions—concealment, betrayal of the public trust, and other grave offenses—would never have been permitted to live out his days in tranquility. Yet, in a state that had lost its sanity, he maintained the longest tenure of any Prime Minister in history. It is this legacy that has led us to our current state of ruin. Living in Japan today, one cannot help but feel the heavy resonance of the twelfth century, when Go-Shirakawa similarly bent the structures of the world to his private will.
Only two days ago, I released an article contemplating our modern homeland through the life of Dogen (1200–1253). On that same day, news broke of Prime Minister Takaichi visiting the Ise Grand Shrine, carrying a portrait of the deceased Abe Shinzo. That Takaichi Sanae, the leader of a nation, would openly flaunt the image of a man who was, for the citizenry, a criminal, while paying respects at the shrine of the Imperial ancestors, is a visceral sign that this country has reached its end. Naturally, there are supporters who take delight in such a hollow performance; meanwhile, international media continues the folly of labeling these people simply as far-right, a testament to the profound degradation of global intellect. As I wrote yesterday, we are in what Buddhism calls the Age of Mappo [末法]—Age of Dharma Decline. Or more accurately, the Age of Mappo has only just begun.
Japan will continue to wither in terrifying ways. However, if we view history as a cycle and consider the medium to long term, it is vital for our future to discern the shifts in faith that occurred during the upheaval of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as the world transitioned from an aristocratic structure to a warrior-led one. From here, I shall proceed based on the foundations laid in yesterday’s essay.