The Antifragile Hasedera Kannon: Disaster, Revitalization, and Karma in Heian Japan

Abstract

Buddhism is often described as a religion that embraces the impermanence and inevitable cessation of all things, and yet, paradoxically, certain historical manifestations of Buddhism exhibit a remarkable capacity for flourishing sustainability—especially in the face of disaster. One dramatic example of such flourishing comes from the premodern Japanese context. Over the course of eight centuries of repeated disaster, one of Japan’s most influential temples, Hasedera, fostered the development of a culture that was not merely resistant to disaster’s effects but thrived in the wake of disaster. Repeated destruction at Hasedera fostered the development of a unique set of religious, natural, literary, political, interpretative, and social resources that allowed Hasedera and its icon—the Eleven-Faced Kannon—to overcome disaster, proliferate, and spread to all areas of Japan. Moreover, the site’s antifragility—that is, its ability to thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors—transformed the very meaning of disaster itself. Ultimately, destruction became the language by which the Hasedera Kannon was believed to express her will and the skillful means by which she was thought to compassionately intervene in the karmic destinies of individuals, society, Buddhist institutions, and politics. Within this context, catastrophic destruction served as catalyst for temple restoration efforts at Hasedera and throughout Japan. This exploration into the discourses and religious culture of generative destruction at Hasedera creates new trajectories in the study of Buddhism, religious studies, and literary studies while also providing the field of disaster studies with a much-needed case study from the premodern East Asian context.