On Nov. 10, Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, dropped a bombshell in a speech he made atop one of Japan's most sacred mountains, Mount Koya, in Wakayama Prefecture.
The temple on that mount was founded in the ninth century by the great monk Kukai (774-835), who was buried there. The doctrines of the Shingon (True Word) school of Buddhism he established, though known for their asceticism, are also notable for their tolerance and benevolence.
In his speech there, however, Ozawa saw fit to declare that Christianity was "a self-righteous religion that excluded other religions." Islam was somewhat better, he claimed, but "it too excludes other religions." Unsurprisingly, given the setting, he had fulsome praise for Buddhism, which he deemed "magnanimous."