Kirk here with some notes on Gohyaku (500) Rakan. The 500 rakan (disciples of Buddha) are near Reigando, where Miyamoto Musashi meditated some 400 years ago. The meaning of rakan in Zen Buddhism is described here:
This video from Feel Fukuoka Japan includes a visit to Reigando and a brief look at the rakan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JjjfsicBvY
This picture I’ve selected for this post shows a rakan with his head chopped off. This sort of destruction of Buddhist culture occurred as part of this haibutsu kishaku (廃仏毀釈) (literally “abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni”) movement of the Meiji period. You can read about that here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibutsu_kishaku
The connection of the Unification Church to Japanese politicians (including Mr. Abe) reminded me of this older example of religion taking on political significance here in Kumamoto. Another example would be Aum Shinrikyo, which had a community in Aso for some time. And, of course, the persecution of Christianity in Amakusa is key to understanding the politics of the Edo period. Perhaps I can touch on those topics some other day. ;)
