NIIGATA - Temples that have long shaped Japanese life and culture are increasingly closing and being put up for sale as falling numbers of parishioners and a shortage of successors leave many religious institutions unable to continue operating.
Japan has about 77,000 temples, but an estimated 17,000 have no full-time resident priest. The disappearance of a temple can leave ancestral graves without proper management and deprive residents of a place to hold funerals and memorial services. Closures may also damage local scenery and weaken communities that once gathered around their temples.
On the outskirts of a settlement in Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, a temple affiliated with the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji school stands seemingly forgotten, with a rope blocking its entrance.
The temple is being managed by Sugita, a priest serving at another temple in neighboring Joetsu. He said the temple has already ceased operating and its religious corporation has been dissolved.
Its former chief priest died in 2020, and no successor could be found. Sugita, who belongs to the same Buddhist school, applied for the corporation’s dissolution, which was approved in February.
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the number of temples in Japan has fallen by nearly 1,000 over the past decade. Around 17,000 are believed to have no dedicated resident priest.
Local residents said the temple had previously been used for meetings and other community gatherings. "It was the only temple here, so I think everyone is disappointed," one resident said.
The building is expected to be demolished and the land sold. However, the growing number of temple closures has created another concern: transactions in which temple properties or religious corporations are acquired for purposes unrelated to religion and potentially exploited for improper activities.
In Osaka, Takao Yamamoto has spent the past seven years acting as an intermediary in the sale and transfer of temples and other religious corporations.
Yamamoto said he continually receives requests from temples seeking buyers because they have no successor. One recently delivered application sought a transfer price of about 40 million yen.
"People call it a loophole," Yamamoto said. "It is not illegal, but when someone buys one for a purpose other than religion, it is described as exploiting a loophole."
A website operated by Yamamoto listed about 150 temples for sale, including properties priced at 380 million yen and 800 million yen. When a transaction is completed, Yamamoto receives a commission of 5%.
Religious corporations generally do not pay tax on offerings, while income earned through the sale of goods and other profit-making activities receives preferential tax treatment. Yamamoto said some buyers may therefore be interested in reducing their tax burden.
He also said Chinese nationals now account for about 30% of inquiries. Although none of his negotiations with Chinese buyers has resulted in a completed contract, he said the number of approaches has increased.
Yamamoto said some prospective buyers had mentioned rumors that ownership of a religious corporation could make it easier to obtain residency status. He stressed that this was only a rumor. Others had discussed using temple properties for business ventures or building accommodation facilities to generate profits.
Numerous advertisements offering Japanese temples and religious corporations for sale can also be found on Chinese social media.
One temple listed on such a platform was visited during the investigation. The property included a main hall, another worship building and monks’ quarters, but no one responded when called.
The head of the local neighborhood association said the temple’s elderly priest died about 10 years ago. Three years ago, a Chinese man who operated a construction company in Osaka bought the land and buildings from the priest’s family for use as a vacation property.
The buyer did not join the neighborhood association and visited only occasionally, the association head said. Residents are now concerned that the property could be resold, leaving them uncertain about who will ultimately control it.
When contacted by telephone, the purchaser rejected the description of the property as a vacation home and declined to explain why he had bought it. He also refused to discuss whether the temple’s appearance on Chinese social media indicated that it was being offered for resale.
Temples deeply rooted in Japanese tradition and culture are reaching a major turning point as closures spread nationwide, raising questions not only about the loss of religious and community institutions but also about who will acquire their properties and how they will be used.
