On July 20, 2002, the Society celebrated its 130th Anniversary with a series of special events in Kyoto, the highlight being a lecture by Council Member Dr. Hubert Durt, Professor at the International College of Advanced Buddhist Studies, on "The Role of Yoshidayama in the Development of Shinto and Buddhism in Kyoto".

After a welcome from the President, Dr. Erich Berendt, the proceedings were opened by our Patron, H.I.H. Prince Takamado, who gave a speech of congratulations which touched on many aspects of the illustrious history of the Society.

Professor Durt described Yoshidayama as "an oasis". Although surrounded by busy avenues, Yoshidayama is not crossed by any of them, ensuring the quietness of the "small but dense forest" that Yoshidayama is, and should remain, as Professor Durt implied at the end of his talk.

Yoshidayama was originally named Kaguraoka and its main lane going to the top of the hill is a path that can only be accessed on foot. The bottom of the path on the other hand joins Ichijo-dori, or First Avenue, which was one of the ten avenues running East to West in the original old city of Kyoto.

After skillfully highlighting the natural and geographic attractions of the area surrounding Yoshidayama, such as the Eastern Hills, the Silver Pavilion, the "neo-Todaiji" complex within Toribeno, the cemetery at Komyoji, Kyoto University, and whetting our appetites to stay even longer in Kyoto, Professor Durt began to describe the connections that Yoshidayama had with Shinto and Buddhism.

Professor Durt entreats us not to "consider these two religions as static" during the centuries of "comparatively peaceful relations" between them. Buddhism was "constantly innovating" and Shinto too was "in a state of continuous intellectual fermentation." It is in this connection that the traditions of Yoshida Jinja (Yoshida Shrine) were born.

The origins of the Yoshida Jinja were connected with the Kasuga Taisha of Nara, famous for its connection with the Fujiwara Family. According to tradition, Kasuga Jinja was succeeded by the Oharano Jinja when the capital moved from Nara to Nagaoka-kyo in 784 and then by Yoshida Jinja when Heian-kyo became the capital in 794. The founding of Yoshida Jinja itself is attributed to the Jogan years (859-887), but its traditions and the formation of "an articulated theory" for Yoshida Shinto did not come until much later.

According to Professor Durt, "although syncretistic," Yoshida Shinto's " ambition was to make Shinto prevail over Buddhism, " which explains its "lasting influence" on many Shinto movements until the 19th Century. In addition Yoshida Shinto's aspiration was to prevail over other Shinto movements, which, Professor Durt notes, explains why it has been called "heretic" especially since the great transformation of Shinto in the late 19th century.

Yoshida Kametomo, born in 1435, was Yoshida Shinto's "topmost thinker and writer". He authored what Durt labels an "apocryphal sutra" called 'sangen shinto sammyo kaji kyo' (or 'shinkyo') and two important treatises, 'Shinto Taii ' (Gist of Shinto) and 'Yuitsu Shinto Myobo Yoshu' (Compendium of the Doctrines of the One and Only Shinto).

The latter treatise has been mistakenly attributed to an ancestor of Yoshida family named Urabe Kanenobu, active in 1024, it is, in Durt's words, "a typical product of the Muromachi period" and like another short treatise of the Japanese middle ages, the 'Jinno Shotoki' of Kitabatake Chikafusa, is "filled with Buddhist erudition". In particularly, it is famous for "a sentence put in the mouth of Shotoku Taishi (572-621), but appearing for the first time under the pencil of Kanetomo: Japan produces roots, China (and the Confucians) leaves, and India (and the Buddhists) bears fruits." After his death in 1511, Yoshida was given the title of 'Shinryu Daimyojin' (Spiritual Dragon), according "to what seems to be both a Buddhist funerary custom and a divinisation in the Shinto style". A small shrine named Shinryu between the Yoshida Jinja and the Gengu, still exists.

During his 75-plus years, Yoshida sought to centralize Shinto under his family's authority, and remains famous for having built an altar in the Yoshida Jinja in 1484 that was "to serve as the center for all the shrines of Japan" and claimed that the divinity of Ise had "transferred itself to this altar". Likewise, the present Gengu of Yoshida Jinja, "a unique and majestic octagonal construction," is devoted to all the gods and goddesses of Japan, making the "generally quiet" Yoshidayama "incredibly crowded" during the three-day Setsubun festivities in early February -- the only time the Gengu is open to the public.

"To our modern eyes," Durt admits, "the texts of the Shinto syncretism often appear more like confusion than synthesis," but Yoshida Shinto was essentially "a system of thought elaborated in the Muromachi period with nationalistic and Confucian preoccupations representing one of the first attempts at confronting Buddhism with an 'articulated Shinto'."

Because Yoshidayama is only a short distance from the venue of the lecture, Kyoto University Kaikan, Professor Durt kindly organized and led a walking tour to the hill and shrine itself following his stimulating lecture. Despite the great heat that day, H.I.H. Prince Takamado enthusiastically joined in the walk, along with some twenty others who wished to see at first hand the Yoshidayama that Professor Durt described as "looking like the peaceful Lykabettos in Athens".

From Yoshidayama, the tour ended up in the private gardens of Hakusa-sonso for an outdoor reception during a perfect summer evening, also attended by our Patron and some 60 guests.

Thank you again Professor Durt, and all who turned out for the day's events, not least His Highness, who had made the journey from Tokyo specially to attend; we are happy to record that he gave every indication of having enjoyed his visit.