Views of Japan

When Japanese Buddhist priests talk among themselves in a situation which could be easily overheard, they use a coded slang system peppered with religious terms and boisterous x-rated slang that the uninitiated would have no idea of the meaning of. As it turns out, the slang of the Japanese clergy is the oldest form of slang spoken in Japan today.

I found Buddhist slang to be the liveliest of the systems of Japanese slang in Japan, even more so than that used by the Yakuza.

Full of cryptic religious metaphors and classical naughty puns, even experts of Japanese slang are left scratching their heads. Many terms are centuries old and taken from ancient Buddhist texts, designed to also have a religious meaning.

It came as something of a shock to me when I started out in Japanese Buddhism that the various respected Buddhist sects have their own highly developed slang designed to disguise their materialistic ways. As Buddhists we were expected to renounce worldly ways and shun the pleasures of the world. Not so the Japanese!

Everything from women and sex, to money and whoring. There are secret terms and codes for it all!

Some of the more common slang terms I came across were:

kishiko (place of truth) for toilet,

moku (eyes) for money,

ryõgyaku (spiritual globes) for testicles,

nazu (caressing) for bondage,

kotsuen hokki (sudden enlightenment) for erection,

bodai no gokui (ultimate stage of enlightenment) for ejaculation,

hibutsu (hidden Buddhas) for vagina,

bonnon (Brahma’s voice) for screaming out during sex,

koan (Buddhist riddles) for kissing,

jõgyõ (pure practice) for sexual relations with only the one same male partner,

and geten (non-Buddhist texts) for pornography. 

The Japanese priests penchant for little boys has a highly developed system of slang surrounding it too. I think there are probably more terms relating to sexual interactions with young boys than any other subject. Zennanshi (nice young boy) is the most common slang term for a Buddhist priest’s young male lover. A sexually active priest is called a zokubutsu (worldly Buddha) and he might take part in nembutsu, or chanting to the Buddha, (masterbation) with his young boys. A young boys penis wet with sperm is called a nurebotoke (wet Buddha). Jõdõ (entering the priests hall for a meal) means oral sex with a young boy. Then there is sandõ (three roads of transmigration) for oral, anal and masterbation with a young boy.

The best one of all is when a priest is termed a bakebotoke (transformed Buddha). I used to think it had a true religious meaning until I learned that it mean’t a priest who wears women’s underwear under his robes or dresses in drag during his breaks!