Kashi to Kyoto: How Buddhism built Asia's oldest, quietest bridge from India to Japan

As Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds talks with Narendra Modi in Delhi for the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, the relationship being discussed in policy terms — trade, technology, defence — has a much older foundation: a shared Buddhist heritage tracing back to Varanasi.

Origins: Sarnath, 5th century BCE

The India-Japan relationship is framed around modern metrics — bilateral trade, infrastructure financing, trade, and defence. However, its oldest connective thread runs back roughly 2,500 years, to Sarnath, near present-day Varanasi, where the Gautama Buddha is said to have delivered his first sermon. This event, known in Buddhist tradition as the "turning of the wheel of dharma," marks the starting point of Buddhism as an organised religious and philosophical practice and one that would eventually reach Japan years later.

How it travelled: India to Japan

Buddhism did not move from India to Japan directly. It spread in stages, through Central Asia and China, reaching Korea before formal transmission to Japan in the sixth century CE. Centuries later, in the 13th century, the Japanese monk Nichiren Daishonin, following the Mahayana sect of Buddhism, founded a distinct school of Buddhist practice centred on the Lotus Sutra. This transmission — spanning multiple countries and roughly a thousand years — is well documented by historians and remains one of the clearest examples of Indian religious philosophy shaping East Asian civilisation.

The growth of Bharat Soka Gakkai

That history is not confined to textbooks. Bharat Soka Gakkai, the Indian affiliate of the Japan-founded Soka Gakkai International, practises Nichiren Buddhism across Indian cities today, running education and cultural programmes based on this tradition. Bharat Soka Gakkai, the ever-growing organisation, follows Nichiren Buddhism. The philosophy believes in the infinite potential of each individual, which, when channelised in the right manner, can steer lives as well as society at large in the right direction.

Over the last three decades, Nichiren Buddhism has spread across cities in India, and the Japanese chant of ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’ echoes almost out of every other urban household in India. While the practice first permeated into big cities and English-speaking practitioners, in the last decade, the reach of BSG has widened and reached tier 2 and 3 cities.

A school of Buddhism that developed in Japan over centuries now has an active, organised following in the country where Buddhism originated. Scores of Indian households follow Buddhist philosophy and chant in Japanese.

It is a concrete, present-day example of the religious exchange between the two civilisations — not merely a historical footnote.

Kyoto's place in the story

Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital, houses many of the country's most significant Buddhist temples and institutions. Its temple architecture and religious practices developed from Buddhist thought that arrived via China, itself traceable to Indian origins. This lineage is why Kyoto is often cited as Japan's spiritual counterpart to Kashi — both cities function as centres of religious heritage within their respective national identities.

Where diplomacy fits in

Governments have periodically sought to formalise this cultural connection. In 2015, Kashi and Kyoto signed a "Partner City" agreement during a visit by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, explicitly citing their shared Buddhist heritage. While this week's summit and the 16th edition of the India-Japan Annual Summit is expected to focus on economic security, technology and defence cooperation, it is important to note that the two nations are not building ties on a blank slate.

A religious and cultural link established more than two millennia ago — and still practised today through groups like Bharat Soka Gakkai — continues to underpin a partnership now measured in trade figures and joint statements.