More and more people in Japan are transcribing Buddhist sutras -- a practice known as shakyo -- to keep their minds calm amid the anxiety that has spread through the nation due to the new coronavirus.
In a bid to prevent infection, Buddhist temples across Japan have canceled events meant to give ordinary people a chance to experience shakyo, and called for transcribing sutras at home.
"Writing each kanji letter very carefully calms my mind," said Seiji Matsuura, 68, who runs a real estate rental service in Hyuga, Miyazaki Prefecture.
Due to the pandemic, his company's contracts for condominium and apartment rentals began decreasing in number from around February. In March and April, which would have been the busiest season in a typical year, sales declined by about 30% from the previous year.
Amid this situation, Matsuura found a notebook for practicing shakyo at a 100 yen shop. Now he does shakyo with the "hannya shingyo" sutra for 30 minutes after arriving at his workplace.
"I pray for the end of the new coronavirus ordeal and the recovery of my company's business performance as soon as possible," Matsuura said.
A conspicuous number of people have posted comments about shakyo on social media lately, saying things like "It calms my mind" and "My brain was refreshed."
On May 6, fashion model Ai Tominaga posted a video clip on her Instagram account in which she practices shakyo clad in a kimono.
Her attached message says: "Staying at home for so long, I lost my powers of concentration. So I once again started doing shakyo, which I'd done before. I begin by making black ink with an ink stone, and it's a very quiet and healing time."
Naritasan Shinshoji temple in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, used to hold daily events for ordinary people to experience shakyo at its training hall. However, use of the hall was halted due to the spread of infections.
Instead, an increasing number of people have sent sutras they transcribed at home to the temple. In April, about 40 people's transcriptions were sent in, about double the usual number.
Suma-dera temple in Kobe called on people to do shakyo at home in March, and offered sample patterns that can be downloaded online.
As a result, about 3,000 scrolls of shakyo had been sent to the temple as of mid-May, both from Japan and overseas. The temple dedicates the texts to Buddhist deities everyday, and its priests offer prayers to drive off the epidemic.
Also in Kodosan temple in Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama, more than 100 people have sent shakyo to its main hall in the past month. Temple officials said some of the shakyo transcriptions convey a desire for an end to the spread of infections.
Senior temple official Shokai Yamaguchi said: "Looking at the transcriptions, I feel [people's] desire to eliminate anxiety and fear. They may have gained mental stability by concentrating on transcribing the sutras."
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