Empty temples in Japan
Sixty years ago, Philip Larkin’s poem “Church Going” offered an acerbic vision of religious decline. He imagines the ever shrinking numbers that will attend England’s churches until finally only a few superstitious neighbors prowl the church grounds in search of omens and visions. And even that is not the last stage: “But superstition, like belief, must die, / And what remains when disbelief has gone?”
The sharp decline of institutional faith in contemporary Europe has made Larkin’s vision seem all too relevant, as the fate of disused buildings becomes a pressing issue for national churches in all traditions.
If we want to see a faith in real decline, however, we need to look outside the bounds of Christianity altogether. In recent years, observers of the Japanese scene have noted the alarming trends facing Buddhist and Shinto believers. This might well provide an example for understanding conditions in other countries, especially those on the front lines of European secularization.
