The chief priest of a 500-year-old Buddhist temple allegedly burnt down his own temple to fraudulently collect millions of dollars in insurance and so pay off huge debts incurred in the course of a lavish lifestyle, which saw him frequenting hostess bars and driving about town in a BMW.
The 53-year-old chief priest headed an obscure rural Saitama temple, Seiganji / 聖岩寺, adhering to the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, having followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in running the establishment.
Rather than live the ascetic life of a monk, he instead enjoyed the best worldly pleasures on offer in the nearby town of Ogawa, buying an apartment to supplement his clerical accommodations and then leasing a BMW with which to drive to and fro from the temple, all whilst enjoying the company of hostesses at expensive snack bars.
Reportedly he amassed debts amounting to ¥36,000,000 from these expenditures.
Realising that he had no chance of repaying this, he instead took out a ¥250,000,000 fire insurance policy on the temple, and then doused it with fuel and set it alight, burning the structure to the ground.
After the fire the chief priest quit his post, presumably intending to appropriate the insurance payout to pay off his debt and fund further dissolution, and apparently thinking nothing of local police.
The fire destroyed the 500-year-old temple completely – 460 square metres of temple over 4 buildings was reduced to ashes, along with the priest’s BMW.
Police swiftly turned the fire into an arson investigation after a witness reported seeing each the temple burst into flames in several places at once.
Oil based fuel was detected at the temple and in the chief priest’s bedroom, and police suspicions were damningly confirmed when they discovered the priest had taken out the insurance policy only the day before.
Of course, no insurance money was paid out.
The priest was soon arrested on charges of arson; police are continuing to investigate the case.
Police raided the dwellings of relatives of the suspect and discovered centuries old historic documents bearing the personal seal of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun, thought lost in the fire.
They also found that the priest had contracted a removal company only the day before the blaze and removed his personal possessions and various temple goods and records from the site of the fire.
The temple itself was no stranger to fire – it was partially rebuilt 200 years previously after a fire, and in 2006 part of the temple caught fire under mysterious circumstances police are now investigating. ¥50,000,000 was paid out in insurance as a result of this fire, but the priest denies any knowledge.
In 2009, the same chief priest was charged with assault after he dragged a 64-year-old out of a snack bar one night and beat him after the man had the temerity to tell the priest he “had pretty eyes.”
The priest excused his actions by saying “I thought he was making fun of me.”
It appears this fine example of Buddhist forbearance did not affect his duties at the temple, although reportedly by this time parishioners were greatly concerned about their sinful priest’s increasingly depraved antics, concerns which were evidently extremely well founded.
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I'm more surprised to hear that a priest gambles, goes to brothels, drives a BMW, violent, and does insurance fraud and stupid enough to burn it the next day after buying it.
Sounds more like a thug to me. How did he become chief priest? Unless it was just slang for Boss and the temple was just a cover for his gang.
Seems quite normal behaviour for clergy the world over.
it's sad that such an historical creation was destroyed...
on the other hand...The roof,The roof,The roof is on fire! XD
Once in a while, I have to agree that sins such as lust, pride and greed are really the root of destruction...
500 years - half a millennium's worth of history up in smoke.
Unforgivable.
There should be no mercy for that priest. Burning a religious historical landmark that far exceeds the assurance payout is atrocious.
Well, this shows there is corruption in many religions...
oh my Buddha!!!
Why the Japanese priest duty is being passed from the parent to the son? This guy is not a monk. He's doing many things for his own need.
A Buddhist monk in Thai have his own personal only a pot for eating, a set of cloth, a set of bath wear, a blade for shaving ,many have shoes but some may not. So don't even think about BMW!
Buddha said that if you need something, First you will be sad if you can't obtain it, Then if can obtain it you will be sad when you lost it. So keep your need lowest and the sad thing in your life will be lower.
And the bad way to increase your "need" and "sad" is have debts to pay for your need. So try to avoid to have unnecessary needs.
Even you guy is not a Buddhism but you can try this. because this is not for the Buddha but this is for yourself.
I keep reading 'Priest' as 'Pepsi' :\
Oh what some assholes will do for money. A 500 year old building lost to greed...
Quite an innocent way to live life, for a religious person.
Probably just one of those kids who decided to follow in his parent's footsteps just 'cause it was easy and not because he WANTED to be a priest.
son of a whore!!!
rofl asshole and a moron. Like everything he did pointed to him being a suspect.
seriously he thought he could get away with this. set fire and get insurance the day b4??? what a dumbass. Also getting all his personals out and not anyone Else's. At the end denying all of this??? is he seriously that retarded. Thats like making bad cheques and signing it with your own signature.
This guy should be killed as he is literally the dumbest man on earth.
PS A ***** BMW to go to the temple are you kidding me wow.
In 2009, the same chief priest was charged with assault after he dragged a 64-year-old out of a snack bar one night and beat him after the man had the temerity to tell the priest he “had pretty eyes.”
Anyone else think Genjo Sanzo?
I understood that some Buddhist Temples in Japan is hereditary, meaning the Chief Priest usually inherits it from their parents.
I think it started around this century and it somehow became like a business of sort.
Though I heard that many take it seriously, even after starting a family, they still did their duties and services respectfully as Chief Priest.
Yet this man, he is a disgrace to buddhist monks and tarnish the reputation of buddhists. What a disappointment, to purposely burn down a sacred holy temple just for his own selfish goals.
That's outrageous
Having such stupidity in our world is sad
Took out an insurance policy the day before. Talk about a smoking gun. Nobody ever said criminals had brains.
What an asshole.
That is so disgraceful to his family heritage and to the Zen community. Such a waste.
What kind of moron allound this bastard to become a priest.
geez of cause you get caught useing oil to start fire, should have go to kitchen to start a gas explosion.
You guys should read The Temple of the Golden Pavillion by Yukio Mishima. It's basically a similar story to this post.
fucken japanese...always doin crazy shit.
Seppuku!!!
What an asshole priest >.>
A disgrace to Buddhism.
Since when is a BMW a status symbol ?
in my country, monks walk on bare feet
Everywhere except Europe apparently. I owned a BMW once just to show off. Of course, when the Tie Rods when out and I got a bill for $1700, I quickly sold it.
Yea...maintenance on those cars is no laughing matter. Same with Audis.
Since people figured that you'd have to have a decent amount of money to even think of buying/leasing one.
And they say that the fire does not purify ;<
Hah, this is awesome. I'll have to show it to my Buddhist friend who never shuts up about how Buddhism is totally better than other religion.
what a retarded priest. should've invested in training Mikos instead of blowing it at bars.
what a shame.
Miko (shrine maidens) serve Shintô shrines, not Bhuddist temples. Bhuddist temples have nuns!
im thinking of Nyan Koi Monk!! will he ever do that for his worldly desires?!?!
I thought about him too, this sounds like what exactly he would do.
Yeah very first thing i thought of as well...perhaps selling the golden bell replicas didn't come close to returning the investment.
You're not the only one who thought of that cabaret-loving priest from Nyan Koi!. -_-
This guy seems to be stupider than that priest.
well that's totally screwed up. So much for zen buddhism. Guess he decided to screw with religion and live like a king.
this is nothing new.
in case you dont know, with the standard of living steadily rising, people are able to donate more to temples and other religious establishments.
but that money is more than what simple monks/priests would need to live, and so the excess funds are used to live a lavish lifestyle.
im pretty sure they dont get taxed, and no one asks what they do with the money.
And yet, he still managed to get ¥36,000,000 in debt. What a jerk.
It proves that money is the only religeon and that taking money from others is a profession older than prostitunshion, which religeons do to people - take all their wealth property time and lives. This here monk is the top prime example and proof.
no money is still prity new in comparison to prostitunshion. you hunt for food and ill fuck you.
While there are plenty of corrupt people in religions past you cannot I repeat cannot say that all are like this they are not.
cool he rich now bitch
I'm not religious but I don't condone burning down a historical site like that throw the book at the guy.
I heard from Jp friends, BMWs in japan are like driving fords in US, not luxurious at all.
but he is a priest!
depends on what kind of bmw. just like it depends on what kind of ford.
not every guy in the us drives around in a mustang, as not every nipponjin drives around in a 850...
Uggg.....
Reminds me of a Simpsons when a cult has taken over town and since he can't support the church on Flanders alone Rev Lovejoy is dousing it with gasoline...
"Never thought I'd have to do this again..."
But at least he didn't fuck little boys...
Reminds me of...
"akuryou taisan! akuryou taisan!
onnen, enkon, komatta toki wa
DOUMAN! SEMAN! DOUMAN! SEMAN!
shizumete moraou onmyoji Let's Go!"
How could you be so sure...