The Cultural Synthesis of Japan and Rinzai Zen Buddhism
It is said that my family, the Kajihara clan, descends from Kagetoki Kajihara, a samurai who was active during the Kamakura period.
During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), Zen Buddhism—specifically the Rinzai school—was brought to Japan from China by Eisai and began to influence politics as well. This influence deepened in the following Muromachi period (1334–1573), during which the Rinzai school became even more integrated into political and cultural life.
In the time of the 8th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the Zen aesthetic of wabi-sabi was incorporated into Japanese culture, giving rise to new forms of artistic expression. It was also during this era that Murata Jukō, a Zen monk and the teacher of the famous tea master Sen no Rikyū, founded the style of wabi-cha (the wabi-style tea ceremony). Likewise, ikebana (flower arrangement), which originated from the practice of offering flowers to the Buddha, was systematized as an art form by Senkei Ikenobō.
The main theme of this website—bonsai as an element of Japanese culture—also emerged in a new form: as an art that expresses the grandeur of nature within a small pot, embodying the beauty of wabi-sabi. It is fascinating to see how the concept of "penjing," which was introduced from China during the Heian period, combined with the Rinzai school of Zen to produce a uniquely Japanese form of bonsai infused with the spirit of wabi-sabi.
I, Tōru Kajihara, come from a background in the sciences, having majored in information engineering in graduate school. For much of my career, I lived as what one might call a “hard-driving businessperson,” with little connection to traditional culture. However, a mentor I met at business school taught me the importance of Japanese culture, and how crucial it is to be able to articulate one's identity as a Japanese person in one's own words. That moment sparked an awakening in me toward my cultural roots.
Until then, I hadn’t thought deeply about religion either. But learning that my ancestors, dating back to the Kamakura period, were followers of the Rinzai school made me realize that my family has long been affiliated with this Zen sect as temple patrons.
It was through this "chemical reaction" between my scientific background and the teachings of Rinzai Zen that the idea for our craft bonsai was born—a bonsai that never needs maintenance or withers, yet still embodies the spirit of wabi-sabi. I felt a strange and profound sense, as though an invisible inevitability had been imprinted on history and passed down to me.
Just the other day, I had the opportunity to read sutras together with a Rinzai Zen monk for the first time in a long while. As I recited the words with heartfelt intention, I was struck once again by the sense of a greater inevitability guiding this path.
