＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・残念な天皇の話(その８)。聖武天皇は仏教に帰依し大仏造立で国家財政が窮乏！
I previously wrote an article about Empress Genmei, Emperor Shomu’s grandmother, but Emperor Shomu also had some regrettable aspects.
1. Who was Emperor Shomu?
Emperor Shōmu (701-756, reigned 724-749), the 45th emperor of Japan, was the eldest son of Emperor Monmu, and his childhood name was Prince Obito. His mother was Miyako, the daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito (659-720).
He broke with the traditional custom of choosing an empress from within the imperial family and made Fujiwara no Fuhito’s daughter, Yasuhime, his empress (Empress Kōmyō). This appears to have been a strategy by the Fujiwara clan to expand their power, and Prince Nagaya (son of Prince Takechi and grandson of Emperor Tenmu), who opposed this, was driven to suicide with his family in 729 after being falsely accused of rebellion (the Nagaya Incident).
Incidentally, Fujiwara no Fuhito was the son of Nakatomi no Kamatari (Fujiwara no Kamatari), who, along with Prince Naka no Ōe (later Emperor Tenji), instigated the “Isshi Incident.”
The genealogy of the Imperial family and the Fujiwara clan below clearly shows how the Fujiwara clan strengthened its ties with the Imperial family.
2. Excessive Devotion to Buddhism and the Construction of Numerous Buddhist Temples
He was excessively devoted to Buddhism, constructing provincial temples (Kokubunji and Kokubun-niji) in each province and personally copying and enshrining Buddhist scriptures within them.
He also built Todai-ji Temple and commissioned the casting of the Great Buddha, the Rushana Buddha, approximately 15 meters tall.
He had two sons, but both died young, leaving him devastated at the loss of an heir. Prince Motoi died before the age of two, and Prince Asaka died at the age of sixteen. Therefore, in 749, he received Buddhist precepts, took the name Shōman, and abdicated in favor of his second daughter (later Empress Kōken).
Incidentally, Empress Kōken (718-770, reigned 749-758) is famous for nearly having her throne usurped due to a forbidden love affair with the infamous Yuge no Dōkyō when she abdicated and became a retired empress.
His strong desire for solace in Buddhism seems to stem from the intense anxiety he felt due to the frequent droughts and famines, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, as well as the devastating smallpox epidemic of 737, which resulted in the successive deaths of the four Fujiwara brothers—Muchimaro, Fusasaki, Umakai, and Maro—who were at the heart of the political power at the time.
He became emotionally unstable, repeatedly moving the capital from Kuni-kyō to Shigaraki-no-miya and then to Naniwa-kyō, seemingly to escape disaster, and his politics became erratic.
3. The construction of the Great Buddha led to national financial hardship.
Furthermore, the era was marked by social unrest, including the Fujiwara Hirotsugu Rebellion in Kyushu in 740. It seems that the desire to alleviate this social unrest and stabilize the country was the underlying reason for the construction of the Great Buddha.
However, this massive project of constructing the Great Buddha, along with the construction of other temples, severely strained national finances, alienating the people from the imperial court and intensifying internal conflicts within the court.
The casting of the Great Buddha also resulted in a “mining pollution problem.” This involved poisoning from arsenic contained in the copper and mercury used as a plating solvent, causing many people to suffer poisoning or death. Environmental damage due to mining pollution also occurred during the copper casting process for the colossal Great Buddha.
The construction cost of the Great Buddha and its hall at the time of its creation is estimated to have been approximately 465.7 billion yen in today’s currency. Construction began in 745, and the “Kaigen Kuyōe” (eye-opening ceremony) was held in 752. A total of 2.6 million people were employed for the construction work.
4. The Flourishing of Tenpyo Culture
Meanwhile, with the rise of Buddhism, arts and crafts developed remarkably, giving rise to what is known as “Tenpyo culture.” The relics of Emperor Shomu still exist today as treasures in the Shosoin.