by Amanda Takagi
Background
Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing for the forcible relocation of Japanese-Americans to internment camps around the country (National Park Service). The Heart Mountain Relocation Center was one of ten camps, and the fourth largest, housing up to 10,767 people from California, Oregon, and Washington. With wooden barracks for homes, communal toilet facilities, and a guarded, barbed wire perimeter, Japanese-Americans’ lives were completely uprooted. However, with approximately two-thirds of internees identifying as Buddhist, religious practices provided them with a sense of normalcy and community during their incarceration (“Organizing Resistance” 13).
The Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation was established in 1942 by the eight Buddhist priests residing at Heart Mountain and represented numerous sects of Buddhism under one organization (“Organizing Resistance” 13-14). The combination of sects into one congregation was likely due to discrimination against Japanese-American Buddhists during this time, as they were seen as “less American” than their Christian counterparts; Buddhists had trouble obtaining dedicated space to practice and faced pressure to combine into one organization (Mackey 69). Despite the differences in the sects’ beliefs and practices, they practiced their religion together and created a new and unique Japanese-American Buddhist experience (Michihiro and Masatsugu). Among the sects represented in the Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation were Nishi Hongwanji, Jodo, Zen, and Nichiren (Buddhist Digest vol. 1, no. 4).
Nishi Hongwanji
Nishi Hongwanji is a denomination of True Pure Land Buddhism—or Jodo Shinshu—and is the largest form of Japanese Buddhism in the United States (Michihiro and Masatsugu). In Heart Mountain, Nishi Hongwanji also had the largest representation of all the sects and played an important part in facilitating religious practice within the camp (Nishiura, “Buddhist Altars – Part 1”). Notably, internees who played a part in building the San Jose Buddhist Temple built four large altars for church use at Heart Mountain, the Horiuchi Obutsudan, the Kubose Shumidan, the Aso Obutsudan, and the Shibata Obutsudan, as Japanese-Americans could not bring such belongings with them to the camps. Also thanks to members of Nishi Hongwanji, an Amida Buddha statue was brought from the Yakima Buddhist Church; the statue was extremely important for Buddhists at Heart Mountain and was carried between churches for ceremonial purposes (Nishiura, “Buddhist Altars – Part 2”).
Zen
Zen was established in Heart Mountain by priest Nyogen Senzaki, who was the first Zen priest to visit the United States (Williams 113). Senzaki was one of the first Zen priests to visit the United States, and after immigrating, built up a Zen community made up of both Japanese immigrants and white American converts (Williams 6). He is well-known for his poems and open declarations of faith during World War II, as well as devoting his life to making Buddhism accessible to a Western audience. While in Heart Mountain, Senzaki started by practicing Zen in a shared barrack, and once he was transferred to a single unit, he converted his living space into the official Zen Meditation Hall at Heart Mountain, which he called the “Wyoming Zendo” (Williams 113-114). There, Senzaki was able to host other practitioners for meditation and discussion, keeping Zen alive in the desert of Wyoming.
Nichiren
Nichiren is a Japanese Mahayana tradition that centers its beliefs on the Lotus Sutra (“Nichiren”). It was established in Heart Mountain by Reverend Nichikan Murakita, a Japanese native who taught at a Japanese school in Los Angeles (Russell). In Heart Mountain, he conducted Nichiren services and taught Japanese calligraphy classes. During his time in the camp, it is believed that Murakita began copying the Lotus Sutra onto stones, and before leaving Wyoming, buried them in the cemetery in a metal drum. The stones were discovered decades later and are thought to be a modern version of a Buddhist tradition to copy and bury sutras to preserve them for the future Buddha, indicating the deep devotion that many internees maintained while in Heart Mountain.
Practices and Events
The Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation held regular services, rituals, and events, all of which were publicized in the Federation’s newspaper, the Buddhist’s Daily Digest: Heart Mountain Buddhist Church Weekly Journal (Buddhist Digest vol. 1, no. 5). The July 24, 1943 edition includes a recap of a kei-ro-kai ceremony that honors elders in the church, the announcement of upcoming services and meetings, and a list of Buddhist library books available at Heart Mountain (Buddhist Digest vol. 1, no. 5). The next week, readers could learn about the newly-formed Buddhist choir, see how the Buddhist summer school was going, and read the youth program evening service schedule (Buddhist Digest vol. 1, no. 6). The Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation also conducted funeral services for internees who passed away (Williams 134).
Earlier in July 1943, the internees at Heart Mountain celebrated O-Bon, a multi-day Buddhist festival (Buddhist Digest vol. 1, no. 4). O-Bon honors ancestral spirits and their annual visit to the physical world, involving offerings to the spirits, lantern rituals, and bon odori, a traditional dance (“Japanese Traditions: Obon”). In the week before O-Bon, the Buddhist Digest included the schedule of the days’ events, as well as a write-up about the significance of the festival, emphasizing the importance of community, family, and the spirit of giving.
Faith During Hardship
Despite the discrimination many Buddhist Japanese-Americans faced because of their religion, the church provided them with a safe community in the United States, and this continued into their lives in the internment camps (“Organizing Resistance” 10). In a time when Japanese-Americans had virtually their entire lives taken away from them, practicing Buddhism gave internees a sense of purpose and understanding about their experiences; one priest incarcerated in Louisiana said that he viewed internment as time given to him to devote to Buddha, showing that Japanese-Americans’ faith helped them to cope with the injustices they were facing (Manseau).
Changes to Buddhism
Even though Buddhism tends to adapt to different cultures as it spreads, the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II accelerated changes to Buddhism in the United States (“Japanese American Forms of Buddhism”). With the notion that Buddhist Japanese-Americans were “less American” than Christian ones, many Buddhist Organizations in the United States made themselves “more Christian”; temples became churches, sutras became sermons, and Sunday School became a popular practice (Rhude). Additionally, American Buddhists ended their use of the swastika in their traditions because of its association with Nazism in favor of the Dharma Wheel.
Aside from aligning themselves more with Christianity, Japanese-American Buddhists aligned themselves more with the broader American culture as well. According to Williams, the Young Buddhist Association at Heart Mountain held a Bussei Coronation, which was basically a Buddhist beauty pageant (124). Nationally, the Buddhist Churches of America—who had renamed themselves from the Buddhist Mission of North America—transferred leadership from Japanese immigrants to American-born children of immigrants, reflecting the pressure of assimilation in a white-centered, English-speaking nation (Michihiro and Masatsugu).
After the War
Following the end of World War II, Japanese-Americans were released from their internment camps, but the hardship wasn’t over; since Japanese-Americans were given mere days to pack their belongings, internees lost their belongings and jobs (Michihiro and Masatsugu). However, many Buddhist temples opened their doors for members to store their belongings in the days leading up to internment, and thanks to European-American converts, numerous Buddhist temples were maintained while the Japanese-Americans were away. The Buddhist community continued to support its members throughout resettlement by providing shelter and food.
In terms of the altars that were built for the Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation (and those for personal use), individual members of the church were able to take them home (Nishiura, “Buddhist Altars – Part 1). For example, the Kubose Shumidan, was given to Heart Mountain Reverend Gyomay Kubose, who subsequently took the altar to move to Chicago, where it is now housed in the Buddhist Temple of Chicago (Nishiura, “Buddhist Altars – Part 2). The altars of the Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation continue to be in use today and their high craftsmanship, albeit low-quality lumber, shows how dedicated interned Buddhists were to their faith even when they didn’t have many resources.
Conclusion
Overall, the Heart Mountain Buddhist Federation, and Buddhist churches in every internment camp, were extremely important to Buddhist Japanese-Americans during their time there. While their practices may have looked different than they were used to, continuing to practice their faith gave internees a sense of normalcy and community during hard times. The effects of World War II on Buddhism in the United States, and the Japanese-American community as a whole, continue to be felt today.
Works Cited
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“Buddhist digest: Heart Mountain Buddhist Church weekly journal, vol. 1, no. 5 (July 24, 1943).” California State University, Sacramento, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Densho Digital Repository, https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-1080/.
“Buddhist digest: Heart Mountain Buddhist Church weekly journal, vol. 1, no. 6 (July 31, 1943).” California State University, Sacramento, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Densho Digital Repository, https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-1083/.
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Mackey, Mike. Heart Mountain: Life in Wyoming’s Concentration Camp. Western History Publications, 2000, via the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/heartmountainlif00mack.
Manseau, Peter. “The Complex Role Faith Played for Incarcerated Japanese-Americans During World War II.” Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Feb. 2019, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/complex-role-faith-incarcerated-japanese-americans-during-world-war-ii-180971509/.
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“Organizing Resistance.” Look Toward the Mountain: Stories from Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp, from Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, [transcript], https://www.heartmountain.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/LOOK-TOWARD-THE-MOUNTAIN-Episode-6-Organizing-Resistance-Transcript.pdf.
Rhude, Kristofer. “Buddhism in Japanese-American Internment Camps.” Harvard Divinity School, 2018, https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/case-studies/minority-america/buddhism-japanese-american-internment-camps.
Russell, Dakota. “The Heart Mountain Mystery Stones.” 50 Objects/Stories – The American Japanese Incarceration, https://50objects.org/object/the-heart-mountain-mystery-stones-2/.
Williams, Duncan Ryūken. American Sutra : A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War, Harvard University Press, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cwm/detail.action?docID=5629737.