Fushidansekkyo Audio Material A2 AIFF

The Reverend Shonen Sobue, having been accepted such as "Going through all sorts of tribulations, his life is earnestly devoted to preaching" and "The legitimate preacher who still carries on Fushidansekkyo, which was traditional in Japanese Buddhism, in the modern age, his excellent expressiveness with his distinctive beautiful voice has, today, the enormous reputation of the best in Japan," who lived a full life with his mission completed in January, 1996, is a genuine preacher of the Otani branch of the Shin denomination and a distinguished person of religion. The Reverend Shonen is never an entertainer. Yet that the reverend accurately hands down Fushidansekkyo that is the origin of Japanese talking performances (rakugo [Japanese sit-down comedy], kodan [historical narrative], rokyoku [recitation of stories with samisen] and so forth) to the present day and that his virtuoso preaching is premised on all the conditions as a traditional preacher and it is the emergence of a "true figure of Ho Gei Ichinyo " [Literally speaking, that the "Dharma" and the "Art" become unity, and thereby amount to nothing less than the "Dharma" = the "Art."] possess high cultural-historical value and great significance in the history of the Japanese performing arts.

There are not a few people who ask a sidesman to tape the Reverend Sonen's preaching on a cassette. An elderly lady tresures a cassette tape up, saying, "I had been unable to go to sleep. But I became able to sleep when listening to his preaching." A middle-aged lady says, "Well, because I can feel relieved." And those who say, "When I listen to the cassette tape, my jangled nerves are eased." These are the people who are looking forward to the regular meeting at the Yurin Temple and who cannot do without hearing the Reverend Shonen's sermon everyday, even if it may be only a cassetted one. For these people his Fushidansekkyo is at once what is their delight and what is the fructification of their sensitivities and sentiments with their living faith and wish in the background. Put another way, it is this missionary work which is lowered and undervalued for being performing-artified that saves people and comforts people's hearts and minds in the midst of people's real lives. And that is also to show the raw power which the original sources of Geino [Japanese folk performing arts] intrinsically have to us.

Although there are such people's wishes, yet it has been so long since the negative policy was formulated on Fushidansekkyo within the order of Shin Buddhism, such as criticisms against Fushidansekkyo and disdains for it, and consequently the drastic drop in the population of the keeper of Fushidansekkyo or the issue of the presence or absence of the successor is considerable.

"Well, in the first place, Japanese oral performing arts, be it naniwabushi, rakugo or kodan, if we went back to the original sources, all of them were born of preaching. So, it is naniwabushi in the melodic sense, rakugo on the laughter front, and kodan in terms of firing out words in a compelling way. All those oral arts have their roots in preaching. Despite this, fewer and fewer preachers are delivering such sermons. Around Showa eight or nine [1933 or 1934], academians started saying, 'To give a sermon with a tune is,' for some reason or other, uh, 'About the blessed teachings, talking like an entertainer. How disgraceful!' They started saying that. But, if tune is disgraceful, they should try to read out a sutra with no tune, right? na mu a mi da bu na mu a mi da bu. Well, in contrast, when we intone it, it resonates venerably, you know? That's how it should be, the way of saying 'There is a mountain,' on the other, saying '(cadence) There is a towering mountain (end cadence),' isn't this way more thorough? Even in Sumo, if they call out, like 'East, Akebono,' no one can feel a surge of excitement and anticipation. Also in swimming, '(cadence) Lane Number One, what's-his-name (end cadence),' something of the sort, if referring to it as 'tune' is no good, this is 'cadence,' at the crescendo, a tune is thus naturally coming out..." (omit the rest)

"...I, uhm, delivered a sermon for the first time at the age of eight. When a boy of eight, neither Shinjin nor Anjin was there, just all-you-can-write. I had a sermon written in four sheets of writing paper, and I, in sleep or wake, learned by heart and by rote, and then, I gave a sermon for the first time. That was, uh, the twenty-seventh of December, it was, uhm, in the old days all were given in vigils, and I preached on the night of the twenty-seventh, a night of vigil. In days of old, every pulpit was such a dais as this one, and I ascended it, and would give a sermon, but the main hall was full to the doors. So, many a person, an overflow congregation, left me open-mouthed, and I forgot all. Then, in front of the dais, those, in the first grade in elementary school, let me see, the second grade, wasn't it? Friends of mine were there, and started saying, "Looks like he's forgotten," "He became dumb," so they were saying, "Hush! You are noisy!" while yelling at them, all came flooding back to me. That means, to fly into a temper could happen to be a good thing, I thought, and initiated Sandai, and a narrative for the occasion, though I still remember, our founder, straight from Mt. Hiei, well, there was a time when our founder came to Rokkakudo [Choho Temple in Kyoto]. And that's what the story was about, "(tune) Cold gale force winds wast howling, When making headway in the teeth of these winds, In consideration of how were tortures of the damned in Eight Cold Hells, A lot of trouble did he go to (end tune)," the stories like this were written up, some of the stories. Old folks, men and women, cried, and when I stepped down from the dais, "We're impressed by you," well, some gave me candies, some made offerings, and so, thinking of nothing better than giving a sermon, I became addicted..."

(omit the preceding part) "...A rakugoka [Japanese sit-down comedy artist] came to listen to my sermon, and then came to the parlor and said, 'You are all happy.' 'What do you mean?' I asked, and he said, 'We don't have any background. We have nothing, no Buddha, nada. People listen to us only if we talk very well. Failing that, nobody comes. But, there is Buddha for you. No matter what subjects you may be on, people are thrilled to listen to you. You are favored.' 'Well, nothing is left if Amida Buddha is taken away from me, I am quite happy' was what I thought. So, a bit of this and that, in diverse ways, there were problems and, uh, unpleasant things, but, for all that, Buddha would make everything come together. So, that's it, [Amida Buddha is every reason] why I have been able to keep up until today."

Audio Video Material A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, A1, A3-3, S1, S2 and S3 :
The Reverend Shonen Sobue
I have selected several scenes as to the preacher of the Shin Buddhism in Japan, the Reverend Shonen Sobue, from an original two hours video Hi8 tape on which I recorded his edification and Fushidansekkyo delivered in the main hall of Yurin Temple (Yurinji), Nagoya, Japan in 1992, and I have made QuickTime Movie (.mov) files, RealPlayer Media (.rm) files and audio (.aif, .mp3) files.

A2-1: About Tune [Cadence] (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

A2-2: About his first preaching at the age of 8 (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

A2-3: "Nothing is left if Amida Buddha is taken away from me." (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

A1: About the frame of mind when he decided to be a "preacher" that shepherds the people (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

A3-3: About the "beautiful voice," the narrative power and the tune (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

S1: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Resting his head on a stone in the snow (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

S2: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Refusing to receive his own son Zenran (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

S3: Fushidansekkyo from "Shinran Shonin den": Mountain priest Bennen O my heart was changed forever (.mov, .rm, .aif, .mp3)

Fushidansekkyo Audio Material A2 AIFF

A2-1 AIFF About Fushi (Tune, Cadence)

A2-2 AIFF About his first preaching at the age of 8

A2-3 AIFF Nothing is left if Amida Buddha is taken away from me