The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association was established with aim to relate the teaching of Kōbōdaishi Kūkai to the entire world by engaging in education and Buddhist practice and to meet the needs of individuals living in modern society.

The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association is committed to reaching out to all sentient beings through the following activities:

The activities of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association are carried out by the members of the Monastic Youth Committee of the Buzan Denomination, who act as the executive body of the organization, and the various chapters of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association which exist throughout Japan. 

The activities and governing policies of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association are determined every three years at a meeting of the board of directors. 
In addition to these triennial meetings, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association convening annually for a nation-wide (Japan) Dharma Assembly to discuss the challenges that face the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association.

The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association history begins in the autumn 1957 amidst the postwar recovery at a time when Japan began to experience unprecedented economic growth.  Among the ranks of the Buzan denomination of Shingon Buddhism there was a growing belief that this atmosphere provided new opportunities to relate the teachings of Kōbōdaishi Kūkai to people of the world and, simultaneously, there was a growing demand for activities from the diligent young monastics of the Buzan denomination. 

 The growing desire to relate the teachings of Shingon Buddhism along with society’s demands for spiritual and moral guidance led to the formation of committee charged with the task of making the necessary preparations for establishing the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association.  On November 11, 1957, Buddhist Youth Association of the Buzan Denomination of Shingon Buddhism (Buzan Buddhist Youth Association) was formally inaugurated.  In the following year, on April 20, in cooperation with the Buddhist Wives Association, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association undertook the first publication of the Buzan denomination magazine Buyu.  The title of this publication means “Friends (yu) of the Buzan (Bu)” and, along with inheriting the tradition and commitment of the founding committee members, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Committee continues participate in the publication of Buyu as a means of spreading the Buddha Dharma.  

 From its very foundation, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association began as an independent youth organization.  Subsequently, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association began to create waves throughout the nation and beginning in the urban areas of the Kanto region chapters quickly sprouted up in throughout the nation and developed into a extensive organization with a national network of cooperation bodies. 

 Naturally, the activities of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association are not limited to simply intra-denominational projects but rather transcend the denominational and territorial borders.  From an early stage, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has been quick to deepen relationships with other groups—notably, the Buddhist Youth Association of the Chizan Denomination of Shingon Buddhism.  Also, upon its formation, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has been a member of the Federation of Shingon Buddhist Youth Associations a body composed of all the Shingon Buddhist youth organizations in Japan. 

 Furthermore, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association participates in Japan’s foremost Buddhist coalition, the Japanese Buddhist Federation, and strives to deepen relationships with all denominations of Buddhism.  Additionally, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association maintains deep ties with both domestic Buddhist youth groups such as the All Japan Young Buddhist Association and international organizations like the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth which seek to cooperate with young Buddhists everywhere. 

 In the ways listed here and many more, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association is participating in and developing activities that contribute to the spread of the Buddha Dharma and the promotion of world peace.

・Publication of Buyu
The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association publishes Buyu three times a year.  The title “Buyu” means “Friends (yu) of Buzan (Bu)” and since its first publication on April 20th, 1957, it has been one of the major tools used by the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association to share information about the associations activities and to spread the Buddha Dharma. 

・Propagating the Dharma
The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association energetically conducts a variety of activities to spread the teachings of Kōbōdaishi Kūkai broadly throughout society.  Along with making visits to nursing homes and organizing national (Japan) visits to relate the teachings of Shingon Buddhism, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association also engages in the missionary work during the Botan period—a period of ritual activity that takes place at the main temple of the Buzan denomination, Hasedera, every spring.  One may even state that the entire history of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association is history of illuminating the world by spreading the teachings of the Buddhism.  

・Social Engagement
The Buddhist concept of codependent origination means that all things are interconnected and it is in this spirit that the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association strives to assist all people and cultivate a attitude of mutual prosperity throughout the world. 
Beginning in 1959 with efforts to raise funds to assist the victims of the Ise Bay Typhoon, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association participated in efforts to assist the people all around world in their time of need including the East Pakistan Cyclone, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, eruption of Mount Uzu, the Sumatra Earthquake, the Indonesia-Java Earthquake, etc. 
The efforts of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association are by no means limited to raising funds.  In order to assist refugees in South East Asia, flood victims in Kōchi and earthquake victims in Niigata, in addition to gathering donations to aid salvation efforts, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association dispatched volunteers to assist those in need directly. 
Also, as a Buddhist organization composed of monastics, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has conducted religious memorial services for both those who lost their lives in tragic events and the survivors of those events—such those how lost their lives in at Tanigawa Peak in 1959, in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Amagasaki train wreck. 
Additionally, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association regularly performs concerts where the proceeds are donated in a variety of ways including organizations which assist children who were orphaned by the tragic loss of their parents in a traffic accidents.

・The Preservation of Buddhist Culture
Shōmyō is a term that is used to refer to the traditional, musical-style of chanting which forms a critical part of Buddhist rituals.  Beginning in 1955, the Buzan Buddist Youth Association began recording shōmyō.  In April of 1961, a recording of his eminence, Reverend Aoki Yūkō’s shōmyō was completed.  Also, plans were made to produce a three-part recording which includes the collection of Shingon Buddhist shōmyō, their musical scores and a researcher’s commentary and explanation.  In recent years, many older recordings have been digitally remastered and placed on compact disc.

・Lectures
The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association regular conducts lectures on Buddhism which are available to the public.  In particular, the 1976 lecture on the basics of Esoteric Buddhism (Shingon Buddhism) was extremely well received.  Beginning in 1980, drawing images of the Buddha received a lot of attention and a course for producing these kinds of images of the Buddha began to be offered on a regular basis and continues to be conducted annually for the cultivation of the participants and salvation of all sentient beings. 

・International Interchange
The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association strives to deepen ties and maintain friendly relations with Buddhists all around the world and to engage in dialog with all forms of Buddhism.  Even now, members of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association are experiencing and sharing the Buddha Dharma through pilgrimages to holy sites in India, interchanges with the Hong Kong based Buddhist Lodge of Laity, seminars in cooperation with the Ming Ya Buddhist Foundation of Los Angeles and Seattle, and prayers for world peace. 

・Media
The Buzan Buddist Youth Association incorporates the use of modern media and publication in its effort to relate the Buddha Dharma.  As for its publications, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has published a collection of the Kōbōdaishi Kūkai’s sayings, created both Braille and cassette versions of the parishioner’s hymnal, produced a pamphlet called “Searching for the Eleven-Headed Kannon of Japans Hasedera Temples.” 
In 1973, NET Television featured the Shomyo of the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association in a television program called “The Title-less Concert.”  In 1982, as a member in the Shingon Young Buddhist Federation, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association participated in the public relations work associated with the Toei feature film Kūkai. 

・Events
The Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has held and continues to hold events with the goal of spreading Buddhist culture.  In 1993, as an event organized by Nihon Television, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association performed a public large scale public ritual in order to urge all beings toward Enlightenment.  In 1984, 1994 and 2001, the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association has traveled to the United States and Europe on three separate occasions to conduct similar public rituals.

・Buddhist Practice
The young monastics who serve as members in the Buzan Buddhist Youth Association and study the teachings of Kōbōdaishi Kūkai participate in traditional meditation and ritual initiations in order to deepen their understanding of Buddhism and their experience of life.