Zen Chanting and Jazz at a Public Arts Festival

Abstract

This article explores ritual change and innovation based on my participation as a saxophone player in two rituals featuring traditional Buddhist chant and jazz, which were performed at the Sōtō Zen temple Tōkōji in Ōmiya (Saitama prefecture) during the Yume Arts Festival. In designing these ceremonies, the monks selected elements from traditional rituals and put them together in new ways, while adding new entertaining elements, such as jazz and yōkai. I suggest that the modularity of rituals made it possible to easily create new ceremonies and perform them without extensive rehearsals. Moreover, I show that the monks aimed to offer an entertaining performance in order to reach out to the local community. This article further illuminates that Sōtō Zen has a rich sonic dimension, which our crossover ceremonies showcased.