Contemporary Buddhism in Japan & Asia

Course Overview: Japanese Buddhism and Social Suffering

This course is offered as a companion course to Buddhism and Social Change in Contemporary Asia (仏教と現代アジアの社会変化) by the same instructor—but you do not have to take both courses.

This course will look at Buddhism in Japan in a very different way – through the actions of Buddhist priests and followers to confront the real life problems and suffering of people in Japan today. We will look at such issues as:

1) human relationships in terms of:
a) dying and grieving
b) alienation and suicide
c) disaster and trauma care

2) economic development in terms of:
a) social and economic gaps, aging society, community breakdown and depopulation of the countryside,
b) alternatives to globalization and Buddhist economics
c) alternative energy and the environment

3) politics in terms of:
a) nuclear power and peace
b) Buddhist complicity with war and work for peace.

The creative solutions some individual Buddhists are developing in response to these problems mark an attempt to revive Japanese Buddhism, which is now primarily associated with funerals and tourism. These efforts are trying to remake the temple as a center of community in an increasingly alienated society. There will be a variety of teaching methods from homework, readings, group processes, in-class videos, guest speakers, and field trips. This course will attempt to be as interactive as possible, so students should be ready to reflect on the issues personally as they experience them as residents of Japan, and to express these reflections not only intellectually but emotionally as well.

この授業では英語が中 心のに宿題の読む事は日本語の記事がある、外国人学生も日本語を話せるから授業の会話時に日本語を使える、授業の日本語のビデオも使 います。しかし最後の レポートは必ず英語で書かなければなりません。日本語と英語と国際学生の多語でこの授業を楽しましょう！ While this class is conducted in English, there will be a broad use of Japanese language source texts and videos, and Japanese may be used at times in class and on field trips. However, all main texts are in English. Translation will be provided during field trips, and the final written report must be done in English. Whether it be Japanese, English or one of the many languages of our international students, let’s enjoy communicating together!

Cohort System:

This year I am using a new method for our class that cuts down on the use of lectures and power points and increases discussion time. At the beginning of every 90 minute class session, we will break into cohort groups of 4 students, who generally come from different topic issues, for about 20 mins of discussion. This will be followed by whole class discussion and then a video.
After the Introductory Unit 1, each class will focus on a specific issue and be held after the field trip of that issue. The student(s) who has chosen that issue and has gone on the field trip is in charge for leading discussion during that discussion period for that week. Besides having done the field trip, that student(s) should have done some reading and be ready to share their experience of the field trip and their thoughts on the reading. Of course, other students are encouraged to do the readings and be active in the discussion.
Sometimes there will be no one in your group specialized on the topic (or the appointed person is sick or absent). That is unavoidable. But please use your group time to have a discussion and maybe look over the course readings and materials and use it as a group study session.

Method of Evaluation:

  1. Written Exam N/A
  2. Attendance, Participation (30%)
  3. Preparation for Final Interview (Bibliography, Charts, Reflection) (40%)
  4. Final Interview (30%)

Reminder for Spring Course Only: This is an intensive course that has been consolidated from 14 weeks into 7 weeks, so each week is a double class, 3 hours instead of 1.5 hours of class time. Therefore, lectures, readings, and homeworks reflect a more intensive approach with more weekly work than a usual 14 week full semester course.

Policy on Using Generative AI:

In this course, emphasis is placed on students’ own thinking and expressive abilities. Therefore, the use of generative AI is, in principle, prohibited. I enjoy hearing students’ own voices. Many non-native English speakers have creative and insightful ways of expressing themselves. If you use AI even to correct English grammar issues, you may lose your distinctive voice. A student who hands in assignments that have lost their voice and use a sterilized AI voice will be graded down and in certain cases asked to meet with me separately to clarify their ideas. This course is not an English course and you will not be evaluated on your English level at all. If you are unsure about what is permitted, please consult the lecturer in advance.

Teacher Profile:
Jonathan Watts has lived in Indonesia, Thailand and Japan for the past 30 years involved in NGO/NPO work with Buddhist based organizations. Since 2000, he has been researching and assisting Japanese Buddhists engaged in a variety of forms of social work. This research was published as Engaged Buddhism in Japan in two volumes. These two volumes were preceded by three other books on related issues: Lotus in the Nuclear Sea: Fukushima and the Promise of Buddhism in the Nuclear Age (Yokohama: International Buddhist Exchange Center, 2013), Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012) and This Precious Life: Buddhist Tsunami Relief and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Post 3/11 Japan (Yokohama: International Buddhist Exchange Center, 2012). Since 2008, he has been engaged in Buddhist chaplaincy training at the Rinbutsuken Institute for Engaged Buddhism in Tokyo. From 1999-2018, he translated and edited a number of volumes on Japanese Pure Land Buddhism at the Jodo Shu Institute of Comprehensive Buddhist Studies.