Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 457, The Purple Robe Incident.

I'm back and reasonably alive, though my throat is still a little scratchy, so let's get back

to the show. On this podcast, we've spent a fair amount of time talking about the ins and

outs of Buddhism in Japan, and while I enjoy these discussions around

doctrine and history, to my mind, one of the most fascinating parts of Buddhist history in Japan

is the religion's relationship to the state. Today, the ideas of religious liberty and the

separation of church and state are deeply ingrained in a lot of thinking about

religion. Even states that are officially atheistic, for example, like the People's Republic of

China, generally protect the right to religiously affiliate as you see fit on paper. In practice,

of course, that's another story. The notion that people should be free to practice as befits their own views

and that the state should stay out of religious affairs, while these have become almost

axiomatic in our thinking. But of course, both of those ideas are not in their own right

necessarily true. Their notions with distinct histories all their own, and neither one by definition

had to become the dominant mode of thinking about religion in the modern world. And the history

of Buddhism in Japan illustrates this very well. Today, in particular, is going to be about one

rather unusual incident, centered around, of all things, purple robes,

and how this odd little historical spat helps demonstrate a very different way of thinking

about the role of religion in society and our daily lives. But first, of course, we must talk

background. As we've covered a few times before on this podcast, Buddhism

in Japan has long been a part of, not independent from, the state. Indeed, the faith was first

championed by leaders of the powerful Soga clan of aristocrats, who used this new religion after its

introduction in the 500th C.E.

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