1603 to 1868
The Edo Period was a time where Japan was under the rule of Tokugawa Hideyoshi, during the years between 1603 and 1868. Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism were the 3 religions that shaped the Edo period. In Individual and Societies class, we have been learning about Japanese history, mainly on the Edo period and the Meiji period. We were to write up a paper on something focused on Japanese history, and I decided to focus it on the Edo period, and how religion helped shape that time. By Japan’s Edo Period, Buddhism was widely established and practiced under the. support of the Tokugawa shogun government, but, more importantly, it had begun to. influence other aspects of Japanese culture.  Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since at least 552 AD, though some Chinese sources place the first spreading of the religion earlier during the Kofun period (250 to 538). Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day. In modern times, Japan's most popular schools of Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism and Zen. After the Sengoku period of war, Japan was re-united in the Azuchi–Momoyama period. This decreased the power of Buddhism, which had become a strong political and military force in Japan. Neo-Confucianism and Shinto gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1994 21/4 Zen Buddhism during the Tokugawa Period The Challenge to Go beyond Sectarian Consciousness Michel M ohr The transformation of Buddhism during the Tokugawa period has not been sufficiently explored by modern scholars.  Religion also played a crucial role in shaping Tokugawa culture. This essay explores the role of religion during this important period. To present this subject, it is helpful to review the four main religions that were part of Tokugawa Japan: Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto, and Christianity. Each of these belief systems played a role in shaping Tokugawa society. The most important aspect of Buddhism during Tokugawa Japan was the role of the funeral. Ceremonies for the dead were almost exclusively Buddhist in nature. These Buddhist rituals included bathing the corpse, shaving the deceased’s head, dressing the body in a white cotton kimono and then cremating the dead. This is the only surviving Rinzai lineage in Japan today. Both Soto and Rinzai Zen grew in prominence and influence during the Muromachi Period (1336–1573), when Zen made a huge impact on many aspects of Japanese art and culture. The warlord Oda Nobunaga overthrew the government of Japan in 1573, which began what’s called the Momoyama Period (1573-1603) Museum no. E.3054-1910. Many objects in the V&A's collections come from the Edo period (1615 - 1868), a period of great significance in Japan's history. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the country was unified under the Tokugawa family after years of civil unrest.  Buddhist art and Buddhist religious thought came to Japan from China through Korea and Buddhist art was encouraged by Crown Prince Shōtoku in the Suiko period in the sixth century and by Emperor Shomu in the Nara period in the eighth century. Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan during the Heian period, primarily through two major esoteric sects, Tendai and Shingon. Tendai originated in China and is based on the Lotus Sutra, one of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism; Saichō was key to its transmission to Japan. The influence of Buddhism declined during the Edo Period (1603–1867) , and Buddhism was replaced by Shinto as the national religion of Japan late in the 19th century. About that same time, the Meiji Emperor abolished the samurai class, which by then consisted mostly of bureaucrats, not warriors. Both Soto and Rinzai Zen grew in prominence and influence during the Muromachi Period (1336–1573), when Zen made a huge impact on many aspects of Japanese art and culture.
http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/15kwanm/2013/04/18/religion-in-edo-society/ https://www.usadojo.com/pdf-files/articles/Buddhism-Samurai-Conflict.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Japan http://terebess.hu/zen/MohrTokugawaZen.pdf http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/religion-in-tokugawa-japan http://buddhism.about.com/od/chanandzenbuddhism/fl/Samurai-Zen.htm http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-edo-period-in-japanese-history/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_art_in_Japan http://buddhism.about.com/od/chanandzenbuddhism/fl/Samurai-Zen.htm
buddhism influence during the edo period