Kujo
Takeko : A Modern Buddhist Woman*
by
Dr. Alfred Bloom, Emeritus Professor of Religion, University of Hawai’i
Lady Kujo Takeko
A number of
exceptional and capable women have appeared in the course of Shin Buddhist
history. At its inception during the life of Shinran (1173-1262), Eshin-ni,
Shinran’s wife, and Kakushin-ni, Shinran’s daughter are quite well-known for
their roles in assisting him.
In the case of Eshin-ni, her letters, discovered in 1921, show her a
competent and strong woman. While she regarded her husband as an embodiment
of the Bodhisattva of compassion, he also understood his wife in the same
manner. They gave each other mutual support as he taught and she raised a
family of (according to one genealogy) seven children.
Kakushin-ni was
Shinran’s youngest daughter and his nurse in his final days. She is credited
with establishing Shinran’s mausoleum in Kyoto which became the focal point
for early Shin pilgrimage and devotion. She had great influence on the
further development of the Shin movement.
In modern times the
most outstanding woman leader in the Nishi Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu
has been Baroness Lady Kujo Takeko (1887-1928). Kujo Takeko was born as the
sixth child and youngest daughter of the Abbot Myonyo (Ohtani Koson), 21st
Abbot of the Kyoto Nishi Hongwanji (Honpa Hongwanji) and Matsubara Fujiko.
It is said she was her father’s favorite child, though her mother remains
obscure, not being mentioned in Takeko’s writings.
Setting out on a trip
before her birth, Abbot Myonyo chose the name Takeko. The term Take
suggests warrior-samurai virtue, perhaps indicating his hope that she would
be “pure in heart and exquisite of mind, of integrity of soul, and
compassion, and self abnegation.” It is not recorded what his choice would
have been had it been a boy. She was considered one of the three most
beautiful women of her time.
Her early education in
a respectable, conservative school brought her into contact with rich and
poor students with whom she fit in wearing an ordinary cotton kimono, not at
all snobbish. Despite her short attendance and being a child of nobility,
she gained a feeling for the ordinary person which guided her later social
work projects. Her later aristocratic education was taken over by tutors in
the temple where she learned many traditional arts such as tea ceremony,
koto, Buddhism and languages such as French. Though she was nostalgic for
her friends she made in her early schooling, she enjoyed her studies. She
was an intelligent and apt student.
During her growing up,
the role of Takeko’s mother is unclear. Her mother was the daughter of a
physician and said to have been a beauty in her youth. However, because of
the nature of life in the head temple, little is known of her. She lived
apart from her daughter, though she expressed her care in ways consonant
with the lifestyle of the temple. After Abbot Myonyo died and a marriage
was later arranged for Takeko, she undertook to educate her in a wife’s
duties.
In 1903, Takeko’s
beloved father died and she came into the care of her successor brother
Kozui (Abbot Kyonyo). In 1909, at the age of 22/23, through her
sister-in-law Kazuko, whom she loved very much, she entered into an arranged
marriage with Baron Kujo Yoshimasa, Kazuko’s brother. He worked in
the Specie Bank of Yokohama (Yokohama Shoukin Ginkou). After their marriage
they moved to the Kujo mansion in Tokyo and later went to England where
Yoshimasa attended Cambridge University as an overseas student. He
was later assigned to the branch bank in London. However, Takeko returned to
Japan after one year.
Subsequently, she waited patiently for her husband who was absent for 10
years, working in a foreign country. While there are suggestions that the
beautiful, well-educated Takeko may have been unhappy in the marriage, there
is no indication of it in her writings which, however, express her
loneliness. They had no children.
Kujo Takeko gained a
reputation as a representative poet of the early 20th century.
She was a student of the noted poet Sasaki Nobutsuna (1872-1963). In
1920, she published a collection of poems
金鈴
(きんれい
kinrei), which
straightforwardly related her sentiments on the strict upbringing of young
women in upper class families, unstained by the world. In 1925, her play
Fall in Rakuhoku (洛北(らくほく
Rakuhoku,
North Kyoto)
was performed. Under Sasaki’s tutelage she also published collections of
poetry: Kunzen (薫染Fragrant
Influences,
published 1928)
and Shirokujaku (白孔雀
White
Peacock,
published posthumously 1930). This was an autobiographical play.
Takeko’s public life
began in the context of the Russo-Japanese war in 1904. At this time she,
together with her sister-in-law Kazuko, founded the Buddhist Women’s
Association. It was a groundbreaking effort since both women had been
sheltered within the temple and women generally were not active in society
in leadership ways. Nevertheless, this was a period of great change in
Japan. Kazuko traveled and made speeches, while Takeko ran the office.
Eventually there were branches of the women’s organization throughout the
nation and later in temples in North America. Initially they sent comfort
packages to soldiers at the front and helped families who had lost or
injured sons.
Though Takeko was just
18, she developed strong leadership abilities similar to her father who
faced crises during his tenure as Abbot. It was said that “had she only been
born a boy Takeko would have made a fitting 'pillar of the nation.' ” She
combined masculine strength with feminine beauty.
In 1920, she founded
the Kyoto Women’s College, as well become the head of the United Buddhist
Womens Association (Fujinkai). Although of noble status, Takeko engaged in
social welfare work in Tokyo slums and the cause of women. She was greatly
revered by Nishi Hongwanji women.
On the occasion of the
great Tokyo earthquake in September 1923, she undertook activities to aid
the seriously injured and the orphaned. The Tsukiji Hongwanji, which was her
home, was completely destroyed (but it was rebuilt). At that time, she
established the Asoka Hospital in Tokyo, which remains to this day and
preserves her memory.
The Sanskrit term
Asoka means Without Sorrow. The Asoka tree is sacred in
India and Sri Lanka and believed to be the tree under which the Buddha was
born in Lumbini garden. It is a flowering tree with yellow blossoms which
turn red.
The name of the tree
and its association with Buddhism undoubtedly reflect Takeko’s aspiration to
relieve the suffering of all people through Buddhism. Her popular volume
Muyuge, Flowers Without Sorrow, published in 1927,
inspired by this aspiration, contains her reflections on life and
reality. She directed that all royalties coming from the publication of the
book be given to the hospital.
The Hawaii Hongwanji’s
English Gatha (hymn) book contains some of her poems such as Gassho no
Uta (Song of Gassho; Praises of the Buddha, fourth
edition, 1990. pp.50-51.) The most famous is Seiya in Japanese
(p.138). The English version is “Splendor of an Evening Sky” ( p.156) which
poignantly expresses her loneliness against the backdrop of the vast
universe. Yet, it also attests to her faith.
Splendor of an evening
sky,
Who can ever fathom
its timeless mystery?
Million eyes, when
sparkling bright
In the sable sky,
Touch my heart, my
lonely heart with serenity.
More than all the
countless sands
Ganges river holds
Are the infinite
Buddhas who fill this universe,
Ever watchful over us,
Throughout day and night.
Hearing this, my
lonely heart,
Fills with lasting
peace.
In 1928, Takeko passed
away with blood poisoning at the age of 41/42. Her memorial day (February 7)
is called Kisaragi (如月忌).
She was interred in the Wadabori Mausoleum in Suginami-ku, which belongs to
Nishi Hongwanji’s Tsukiji temple.
It has been pointed
out that Takeko's significance is her strong faith in Other-Power and the
Nembutsu, united with her dedication to social outreach and participation in
society. She is an example for all to follow. Her insight on egoism and
spirituality is reflected in the following quotation:
“It is human sentiment
to rejoice in good and hate evil. If we do not reflect and despise evil,
there will never be a time when we are saved from evil. We must promote
good. However, no one should take pride in their own good. On the contrary,
if we are not brought to tears for our own evils by the evils of others, we
may also be unaware that the fires of evil are always burning within our own
selves. Those unable to reflect on their own evil are apt to be proud of
their petty good deeds. From the standpoint of companions (御同朋（ondoubou）on
the Path [to enlightenment], the good and the evil person alike are intimate
friends of seekers after truth. Rather than just affirming good itself, by
also acknowledging evil, we cannot fail to reflect deeply within ourselves.1
Also two stone
monuments record her insights. At Tsukiji Honganji:
Drawn by the power of
Great Things;
Ah, how unsteady are my steps.
At the West Tower on Mount Hiei:
In a nest of wagtails in the corner of the latticework
in a Mountain Hall,
Three chicks cry, waiting for their mother.2
Like Shinran in
earlier centuries, Kujo Takeko had a broad spiritual outlook, viewing the
wonder of the universe. At the same time, she was aware of the very evil
that inhabits our own minds and gives Shin Buddhism its distinctive
character. She was also an independent spirit and provides a modern example
of a spiritually-grounded, independent woman.
Notes:
* I have
greatly relied on various Internet sources, and the excellent biography of
Mr. Kengi Hamada: The Life of Baroness Takeko Kujo. Honolulu: Honpa
Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, 1962. 26 pp.
1
(悪の内観[Introspection
on Evil] 無憂華Muyuge;
http://buddhism-rc.ryukoku.ac.jp/ja/exhibition_ja/20060612-20060804_001_003_004_ja.html【黄金の言葉－先人の心に学ぶ－
その4】
2 I am grateful to Dr. Tsuneichi Takeshita for these
translations.
