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Writing about history is an important task, because without the past there would be no present, and without the present there certainly would be no future. Therefore, finding the origin and root of all problems is the duty of those who come after, to follow in the footsteps of those who came before to connect the traces of the past. Only then can the flow of history always be passed on.

If we do not count an outstanding monk in the 8th century, a native of Funan named Phat Triet, who came to Japan in 752, invited by Emperor Thanh Vu to Nara to perform the eye-opening ceremony to offer the statue of Vairocana Buddha, as well as to inaugurate the Dong Dai (Todaiji) temple with his teacher, Bodhi Tien Na, who came from India, then the history of Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan would not be very impressive. However, history is still history, whether we want to run around it or deliberately not mention it, it is the fault of those who come after who do not care about the events that happened in the past, letting things quietly drift into the past is something we cannot ignore. Therefore, today, within my limited understanding, I will present about Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan through the following periods:

The first period is defined from 1953 to 1964; the second period from 1964 to 1975; The third period from 1975 to 1995 and the next period from 1995 to 2018. So, in those 65 years, what has Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan contributed to Japan as well as our Vietnam at home and abroad? We invite you to go into each historical period of our country associated with the destiny of Buddhism as follows:

A) The first period from 1953 to 1964:

The Buddhist revival movement in China, initiated by Master Taixu, involved three revolutions. These were the religious system revolution, the religious property revolution, and the Church revolution from the 1930s in Mainland China, which certainly had a significant impact on the revival of Vietnamese Buddhism through the periods in the South, Central, and North. Therefore, the Buddhist Associations in the North, the Central, and the South were established to promote the spirit of Buddhism in dedication and service, even though Vietnam at this time was still under French rule and they did not want Buddhism to operate as a traditional religion of the nation, but only as an association, no more, no less, according to Decree No. 10, which they applied to other associations and organizations present at that time. Meanwhile, the Patriarchs of Vietnamese Buddhism at that time, including the effective lay Buddhists, also shared their experiences in serving the Dharma, by promoting the Buddhist learning movement in many different forms, including the issue of sending talented monks and nuns to study abroad, in order to broaden their knowledge and after becoming successful, they could return to their homeland to build the Dharma and the world.

Since 1953, the Buddhist Association in the North has sent the Most Venerable Thich Tam Giac to study in Japan, in the Central region there is the Most Venerable Thich Thien An and in the South there is the Most Venerable Thich Quang Minh. During this time until the country was divided in two on July 20, 1954, the Buddhist Associations in Central and Southern Vietnam continued to send monks and nuns to study in Japan, including Venerable Thanh Kiem, Venerable Thanh Cat, Venerable Man Giac, Venerable Thien Dinh, Venerable Tri Tam, Master Nguyen Hong, etc. Among them, only two returned to secular life, namely Venerable Quang Minh and Master Nguyen Hong, while the others once made history for Buddhism in the country as well as abroad.

After graduating from the Master's degree in Buddhism in Japan, Venerable Thich Tam Giac returned to Vietnam and from 1964 to 1973, he was the Director of the Buddhist Chaplaincy; Director of the Quang Trung Judo Center in Saigon, which trained countless talented people to serve both Life and Religion. As for the Most Venerable Thich Thien An, after graduating with a PhD in Philosophy from Waseda University, in 1964 he returned to Vietnam to teach at Van Hanh University in Saigon until 1966, then he went to the United States to be a visiting professor at many prestigious universities there. Finally, he decided to stay in the United States, founded the International Zen Center, the Oriental University as well as the Vietnamese Temple, Amitabha Temple in Los Angeles, California. When he passed away in 1980, the transmission of Vietnamese Lam Te Zen to Americans still has influence to this day.

After returning to Vietnam, Most Venerable Thich Thanh Kiem stayed at Giac Minh Pagoda as well as Vinh Nghiem Pagoda. And throughout his life, he always focused on the issue of Education and Dharma Propagation to help young generations of monks and nuns have the opportunity to rise up. Meanwhile, Venerable Thich Thanh Cat, after 1975, went to the United States as a refugee and lived in seclusion at Giac Minh Pagoda in Pola Anto, California until today. Here we do not want to elaborate on the others, because we fear that this document is too long for an article. Therefore, those who need to study in detail should consult more documents for more clarity. At the same time, here we only write about those related to Japanese Buddhism, and we will not mention monks or nuns of the same period, but who went to study in other countries such as India, Sri Lanka, the United States, Taiwan, etc. We will temporarily call this period the period of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

B) The second period from 1964 to 1975:

This is the period when perhaps the largest number of Vietnamese monks and nuns went to Japan to study compared to other periods. For example: Venerable Thich Minh Le, Venerable Thich Tri Quang, Venerable Thich Minh Tam, Buddhist nun Thich Nu Nhu Chanh, Buddhist nun Man Da La, Master Long Nguyet, Venerable Thich Tri Duc, Venerable Thich Dong Tu, Venerable Thich Chon Minh, Venerable Thich Nhu Tang (Lam Nhu Tang), Venerable Thich Giac Thien, Venerable Thich Tri Hien, Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen, Venerable Thich Chon Thanh, Venerable Thich Nguyen Dat, Venerable Thich Nhu Dien, Venerable Thich An Thien, Venerable Minh Tuan, Venerable Thich Bao Lac, Venerable Thich Phuoc Toan.

This is perhaps the most flourishing period of Vietnamese Buddhism both at home and abroad. In the country, the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam was established at Xa Loi Pagoda in early 1964, after which Van Hanh University, Hue Nghiem Buddhist Academy as well as Bo De Primary and Secondary Schools sprang up all over the country. It can be said that this was the heyday of Vietnamese Buddhist Education. A highlight of history, in just 11 years, the Church has carried out countless projects to benefit the nation and the people and has trained thousands and tens of thousands of monks and nuns, as well as lay people who have truly learned through the teachings of the Venerables who have studied abroad and returned to their homeland to contribute to the Dharma as well as to life, including Most Venerable Thich Thien An, Most Venerable Thich Man Giac, Most Venerable Thich Thien Dinh, Professor Nguyen Hong, etc.

Meanwhile, in Japan, many monks and nuns both study and work part-time to earn money to pay for the tuition fees they have to pay for universities. Every year, monks and nuns also organize the Great Buddha's Birthday or Vu Lan Festival for monks and nuns, as well as students and overseas Vietnamese Buddhists to gather at a Japanese temple to celebrate. Usually, the message of the Supreme Patriarch is read in such festivals after the time of the Buddha's Birthday or Vu Lan. Next, the Branch Chief announced the past Buddhist activities, the next Buddhist activities, and finally the intimate tea party. From 1972 onwards, at least until 1979, major ceremonies were often held at Joenji Temple (Thuong Vien Tu) in Shinjuku. Every month or every two months, the monks and nuns in the Branch had a regular meeting at the residence of the Branch Chief, and also during this time (1973), the Vietnamese Buddhist Branch in Japan decided to publish a Buddhist magazine, initially published once a month in two languages, Vietnamese and Japanese, but then every two months and finally every year, until 1981 when the Most Venerable Thich Bao Lac settled in Australia, it was also the time when the Khuong Viet newspaper published in Japan no longer existed.

Most of us stayed at Japanese temples, so we were completely dependent on the schedule and other activities of the temples where we were staying. Therefore, during the An Cu Kiet Ha season or confinement according to the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition, we were almost never able to do it, even the Bodhisattva recitation of the precepts was not done. If there was any, each person took care of his own practice, but gathering 4 or more Bhikkhus in one place, in a certain place for 3 months of An Cu Kiet Ha at that time was almost never organized. Moreover, studying and temple work were always obstacles for us Buddhist students at that time. Even if we wanted to do it, the opportunity was hard to come by. The ancients often said: "Difficulty binds intelligence".

During this period, the war escalated in the two regions of North and South Vietnam, so the movements of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam for a free and democratic country did not belong to any faction, but the spirit of self-determination of the Nation had to be decided by the Vietnamese people. Therefore, the monks and nuns studying in Japan at that time, although following many different traditions such as the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church of An Quang, the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church of Vietnam Quoc Tu, the Traditional Buddhist Church of Co Son Mon, and even the monks and nuns leaning towards the other side, were unanimous in standing together under the unified flag of Buddhism to fight for this ideal. Therefore, the movements of Japanese officials as well as the hunger strikes, the conferences in Kyoto and the fundraising times to help war victims, orphans and widows, etc. all had the wide participation of the monks and nuns studying in Japan at this time. We call this period the period of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church.

C) The third period from 1975 to 1995:

During these 20 years, Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan operated together. Because after 1975, many boat people came to Japan, including monks and nuns who also fled as refugees, but most of them came and left, not staying in Japan for long. Among them were Venerable Thich Nhu Hue, Venerable Thich Nu Dieu Tu, Venerable Thich Chon Le, etc. When they arrived, the Venerables who studied abroad before 1975 and remained in Japan, belonging to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, helped them at first, including Venerable Thich Bao Lac, Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen, etc. In 1982, Venerable Thich Nhu Hue settled in Australia, Venerable Thich Nu Dieu Tu settled in the United States, and Venerable Thich Chon Le, after a period of asylum in Japan, now also settled in the United States. During this time, there were also a number of Vietnamese students studying abroad before 1975 who became Japanese monks, including Venerable Triet Hoc Tran Duc Giang, who is still residing in Japan today. In addition, those who finished their university studies in Japan went to other countries to settle down, including Venerable Thich Nu Nhu Chanh who came to the United States in 1976, Thich Nhu Dien who went to Germany in 1977, Venerable Thich Minh Le and Venerable Thich Phuoc Toan who went to France in 1975, Venerable Thich Bao Lac and Venerable Thich An Thien who went to Australia in 1981 and 1990. Only Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen remained in Japan during this time of those who came before 1975. It must be said right away that the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church sent monks and nuns to study abroad before 1975 and after 1975, not in vain the efforts of the faithful and the support of the Church. Regardless of the form of work for the Dharma, Vietnamese monks are grateful to the Church and do not dishonor the name of those who "bring bells to strike foreign lands", so the history of Buddhism cannot help but remember the contributions of those who have passed away in such a historical context of the country. We call this third period: The period of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha and the monks who fled as refugees.

D) The fourth period from 1995 to 2018:

This is not the end of a long historical journey, but it is also a memorable period of Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan. Until 1981, the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha was still active in the country, but sending monks and nuns to study abroad was no longer legitimate. Although this Sangha still exists in name in the homeland of Vietnam today under the leadership of Most Venerable Thich Quang Do and a number of other monks and nuns who do not share the same views with the government and the current Sangha. The government saw this clearly, so in 1981 they established a Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha, most of the leaders in this Sangha were also those who came from the Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam before 1975 such as Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Most Venerable Thich Minh Chau, Most Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, etc. Meanwhile, Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich Thien Minh, Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Most Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, Most Venerable Thich Thuyen An, etc. did not agree, so some were killed in prison like Most Venerable Thich Thien Minh on October 17, 1978, were forced to commit suicide like Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu (1984), and others were imprisoned like Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, etc. Others were sentenced to death like Most Venerable Thich Tue Sy, Professor Le Manh That, and Most Venerable Thich Nu Tri Hai were also persecuted, imprisoned, etc. because they believed that: From a small stream (through Decree No. 10 of the Ngo Dinh Diem period) Diem) The Church has decided to steer Buddhists out to the vast ocean. And now, why from that vast ocean, the Master of the Church turned the boat to dock at a small creek, which is not under the control of his Church, so this is the reason why today, both inside and outside the country, there are two Churches operating in parallel. The successor of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church today abroad is the Inter-Continental Buddhist Churches that are actively operating on all continents today.

In the country, from 1984 onwards, through the existing prestige of Most Venerable Thich Minh Chau, former Rector of Van Hanh University before 1975, he asked the state for permission to open a Buddhist school to train talents for Buddhism and the first course of Van Hanh Buddhist Institute, then Van Hanh Academy was established, every four years, students were recruited once; the second course began in 1988; the third course began in 1992; The fourth course started in 1996; the fifth course started in 2000; the sixth course started from 2004 to 2008 and from this course onwards, students were admitted every two years and now it seems that students are admitted every year. And from 2018 onwards, Van Hanh Buddhist Institute can train for Masters and PhDs in Buddhism. Because in previous years there were no postgraduate training courses, most of the monks and nuns after completing their Bachelor of Buddhist Studies in Vietnam often applied to study abroad in India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka. During this time, as far as we know, Venerable Thich Giac Dung, Venerable Thich Nguyen Tam, Venerable Thich Quang Niem (PhD), Venerable Thich Phuoc Dien (PhD), Venerable Thich Hai Nguyen (Master), Thich Tinh An (Master), Venerable Thich Nhuan Pho (Master), Venerable Thich Thanh Duyen (PhD student), Venerable Thich Tuong Nghiem (PhD student), Venerable Thich Nhat Tri (PhD student) etc., along with Venerable Thich Nu Nhu Tam (PhD), Venerable Thich Nu Tam Tri (PhD), Venerable Thich Nu Thanh Tri (PhD), Venerable Thich Nu Hien Nhien (University) etc., have also been sent to Japan to study and these people have graduated with PhDs and Masters from Buddhist Universities in Kyoto or Tokyo as well as other places throughout Japan. Especially after they graduate, almost no one returns to their homeland to work, but most of them apply for long-term residence in Japan to establish monasteries as well as help their fellow Buddhists in ceremonies such as: Quan, marriage, funeral, sacrifice as well as help teach a few hours in Buddhist universities when needed. It is known that in the present year of 2018, according to official statistics of the Japanese government, the number of Vietnamese people currently living and working in Japan is up to over 260,000 people. Of which, more than 50,000 are graduate students or international students. The rest are workers. That is not to mention the number of people who came to Japan to study before 1975, now have Japanese nationality, or those who came as refugees after 1975, now have become famous and their children have also integrated into Japanese society perfectly. This number is not less than 30,000 people. Thus, the Vietnamese community in Japan currently reaches nearly 300,000 people, this number is almost double the number of Vietnamese refugees living in Germany. As the number of Vietnamese in localities in Japan increases, the spiritual needs are not small.

It was not until 2000 that Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen decided to build a temple in Kanagawa province, near Yokohama and next to Tokyo city, where there are majestic mountains. The temple is located next to a river with clear blue water flowing from high mountains and flowing south with tiny silvery waves like swallows in the sky. So anyone who comes here cannot forget that majestic natural scenery. First, Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen went to the United States to raise funds to buy land, and was enthusiastically supported by Venerable Thich Man Giac and Vietnamese Buddhist refugees in the United States. Soon, Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen went to Europe, Australia and Canada to call on Vietnamese monks, nuns and Buddhists in these places to contribute funds to build a temple. Since then, the first Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Japan was established, in connection with the Vietnamese Buddhist Branch that was established before 1975. Of course, later, there were 7 more Vietnamese temples in Japan; but it could not have been earlier than the Vietnamese temple in Kanagawaken that Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen had started to build. In August 2017, while the temple was in its final stages of construction in preparation for its inauguration the following year (2018), Venerable Minh Tuyen passed away at the age of 80 and had been in Japan for exactly 50 years. Venerable monks and nuns from all over the world gathered at the Vietnamese Temple to hold the cremation ceremony for the Venerable. At the same time, following his previous will, the former overseas students officially appointed Venerable Thich Nhuan An, who had been cared for by Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen, as the successor to the Abbot of this temple. The administrative paperwork was quite complicated, but Venerable Thich Bao Lac and we, Thich Nhu Dien, wholeheartedly legalized this status through documents and were also recognized by the Japanese government as Master Nhuan An (Doctor of Thai Buddhist Studies) and Nun Gioi Bao (Doctor of Thai Buddhist Studies) having the right to reside permanently in Japan as religious activists.

In early August 2018, the inauguration ceremony of the Vietnamese Temple in Japan was very large and on that occasion, the funeral of Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen was held, which was attended by Venerable monks from all over the world. At the same time, the monks and nuns currently studying and practicing in Japan also held a 10-day An Cu retreat at this Vietnamese Temple. We announced that: This is the first time that the Vietnamese monks and nuns (17) in Japan have had this opportunity since 1953, meaning that after 65 years, the Vietnamese monks and nuns in Japan have had this opportunity. We also took this opportunity to propose that from now on, the Vietnamese Temple in Kanagawaken should be called the Ancestral Temple, or the Ancestral Temple of Vietnamese Buddhism in Japan. I think that is not wrong, because the merit of founding this temple was built by the late Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen, who lived in Japan for 50 years. Almost all of the 50 Venerable monks and nuns came to Japan to study and then left, but no one has stayed in this country for such a long time, except for the Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen. At the same time, the contribution to this construction project was from the Vietnamese Buddhist refugees in Japan, combined with the support of Buddhist monks, nuns and Buddhist refugees all over the world, so that the Ancestral Temple could be formed like this.

From now on, the Vietnamese Temple in Japan will be a place to nurture the spirit of Buddhists far from home in all aspects and also a place to help monks and nuns who encounter difficulties when they first come to Japan or Buddhist compatriots when they need spiritual needs, the temple will be ready to help and support. At the same time, this is also one of the places where monks and nuns often come to An Cu or Bo Tat to recite precepts when Summer comes to Winter or on New Year's and Full Moon days. Now, through the contributions of local Buddhists, under the spiritual leadership of Venerable Thich Nhuan An, the pagoda has purchased an additional piece of land next to it to build a Hall capable of accommodating many people at the same time, and at the same time, the house next to the pagoda has also been purchased in installments to have a place for monks and nuns to reside long-term. These are not small merits that have been added together and multiplied, and now calculated in a power way to commemorate the merits of Venerable Thich Minh Tuyen and his successors, in order to make the Buddha's seed always blossom and bear fruit in this land of cherry blossoms. This fourth period we call the period of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha coexisting.

As for me, I only limit my understanding to what I hear and see, and of course I believe that there are greater Buddhist activities as well as works serving the welfare of others in Japan by our Vietnamese Teachers who are currently residing there, but I do not know everything. Therefore, I would like all Venerables and Buddhists near and far to correct me if there is anything wrong, and to add to me if I see any shortcomings with other merits of our Seniors who have contributed to life and religion. We, the descendants, will be extremely grateful to you. Because, if there is no past, there will be no present, and if there is no present, there will be no future either. Look at the present fruit to know the cause in the past and if we want to know what the future fruit will be like, we look at the present cause, which the monks and nuns as well as Vietnamese Buddhists in Japan have planted in the past 65 years, which are the great achievements and agents no different than more than 1,300 years ago, Buddha Triet from Phu Nam (in the Central region of Vietnam today), brought Vu Lan dances or Zen rituals to introduce to Japanese Buddhism, which today are still carefully preserved at Dong Dai Temple in Nara.

Finished writing this article on October 20, 2018 at Thao Duong Temple, Moscow, Russia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of the Most Venerable Master Thich Long Tri in his homeland.

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