Contemporary Buddhism in Japan & Asia

Japanese Buddhism and Social Suffering: Fall 2024

Course Plan

Unit 1: Understanding Japanese Society through a Buddhist Lens

October 1 & 8:  A Brief History of Japanese Buddhism & The Civilizational Culture of Buddhism meets Japan’s particular cultural identity

  • Introduction to Course: Read the Course Overview & Requirements & Final Project pages on this site
  • Class Issue: Around 500 BCE, Shakyamuni Buddha discovered a radical new way of understanding the meaning of life, which he taught to all genders and classes. His teachings known as Buddhism spread across India and all of Asia providing a “civilizational culture” of transcending racial and national boundaries under the idea that all sentient beings may attain enlightenment. Japan has a long history as an insular, island nation. How did Japan first take in this massive “civilizational culture” distilled through both Indian and Chinese thought, and how has it adapted it to its own particular cultural identity? We will also examine Japanese Buddhism’s attempts to adapt to the modern nation state, both in grappling with western liberalism and socialism as well as “archaic” Shinto-Confucian nationalism.
  • Content for 10/1: The Civilizational Culture of Buddhism meets Japan’s particular cultural identity in Ways of Thinking about Religion and Culture (PDF) Click here for the related audio lecture on What Is Religion? & A Brief History of Buddhism
  • Follow-up Reading: The Historical Struggle of Buddhism to Axialize Japan in the Pre-Modern Era
  • Student preparation for 10/8: Show & Tell with Japanese Buddhism: bring to class on October 8 anything you can find about Japanese Buddhism, like a talisman from a temple, a book you read, a Buddhist image, etc. You don’t have to be an expert about it. Just talk about your personal impressions of it.
  • Content for 10/8: A Brief History of Japanese Buddhism (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture that goes with the PDF.

Homework for 10/15: Read excerpt from Precarious Japan by Anne Allison (Duke University Press, 2013) & try to consider what are the most critical social problems in Japan today

October 15 & 22:  Buddhist Social Analysis & The Present Crisis in Japanese Society, The Disconnected Society 無縁社会

HOMEWORK for 10/28: The Problem of Funeral Buddhism and the Crisis of Death in Contemporary Japan

Unit 2: From “Funeral Buddhism” to End-of-Life Care & Suicide Prevention

October 28: Reforming Funeral Buddhism through End-of-Life Care

NOTE: Class will be Monday evening October 28th at 6th period 18:10-19:40. Normal class on the 29th is cancelled

  • Class Issue: Japanese Buddhism today is facing a number of crises, most succinctly described in the term “Funeral Buddhism” (葬式仏教 soshiki bukkyo) which is a pejorative term criticizing monks and temples with only being concerned about doing funeral rituals for financial payment. Japanese Buddhist priests are well known for their presence after someone has died, but can they be there to support the terminally ill and their loved ones before death takes place? This class will look at how Japanese Buddhists are reviving their ancient roles and re-training themselves as compassionate guides for the dying and bereaved. We will begin to see how they are confronting the suffering of an aging society and providing support and guidance to realize the 3rd and 4th Noble Truths.
  • In-class video: NHKテレ こころの時代   宗教・人生 NHK TV: The Era of the Heart/Mind (kokoro): Religion and Human Life: Grief and Intimacy, Buddhists who practice Spiritual Care with Rev. Daihaku Okochi, Abbot of Gansho-ji 願生寺 Jodo Shu (9/25/2022)
  • Content: The Matrix of Problems in the Japanese Buddhist World
  • Content: Dying and Grieving in Contemporary Buddhism (Part I) & End-of-Life Care at the Kosei Vihara Hospice (Part II) (PDF) Click here for entire audio lecture to go with PDF
  • Follow-up Reading: The Problem of Funeral Buddhism and the Crisis of Death in Contemporary Japan

November 5 & 12: Journey through Dukkha: The Practice of the 4 Noble Truths by the Suicide Prevention Priests of Japan

  • Class Issue: The two crises of Japanese Buddhism’s increasing marginalization in only taking care of the dead (soshiki bukkyo) & Japanese society’s pandemic of “disconnected death” (muen-shi) come together in the problem of suicide, which rapidly increased from the collapse of the economy in the late 1990s. Here and there, in local settings, individual Buddhist priests began to grapple with the 1st Noble Truth of suffering and encounter the suicidal who were desperate for a sympathetic person who would listen to them. By the early 2010s a non-sectarian movement of these priests was forming and today is the most powerful example of socially engaged Buddhism in Japan.
  • Review: the Four Noble Truths (II): The Diamond Pyramid of Nirvana
  • Remaining Content from last week: Dying and Grieving in Contemporary Buddhism & the Potential of Buddhist Chaplaincy for Japanese Society
  • In Class Video for 11/5: The Departure  a profile of the work of suicide prevention priest, Rev. Jotetsu Nemoto 90 mins. During the video takes notes using the Iceberg of Dukka & the Diamond Pyramid of Nirvana from the Buddhist Social Analysis model
  • Follow-up Reading for 11/12: Journey Through Dukkha on the suicide prevention priests & Zen in the Mettaverse: How a 400-Year-Old Buddhist Temple is Evolving in Response to Modern Japanese Suffering by Dexter Cohen Bohn (Watts Keio class 2019) July 27, 2023
  • Content for 11/12: The Problem of Suicide in Japan & Buddhist Priests Confronting the Situation (PDF) Click here for audio lecture that goes with PDF
  • Additional Video for 11/12: This Man Can Rescue You from “Death by Overwork” (Buddhist follow-up on Nemoto’s work)
  • Follow-up Reading for 12/10: From a Disconnected Society to an Interconnected One: Depopulation, Suicide, and Isolated Death by Rev. Shunei Hakamata 袴田俊英（秋田県の曹洞宗僧侶）： 「無縁社会」から「有縁社会」へ：過疎化、自死、孤立死

FIELD TRIP! Suicide Prevention (November 10 Sunday @ 15:00-17:30): Visit Rev. Soin Fujio at his temple in Yokosuka, south of Kamakura (about 1.5 hours from Hiyoshi) to study Zen meditation and learn about suicide prevention and mental health. Limited to 20 people.

Unit 3: The Costs of Economic Development in Rural & Urban Communities & Buddhist Kaihotsu 開発 Development

December 10: Rural Decline, Migrant Laborers, Poverty & Homelessness

NOTE: We will have 2 classes this day. The first at the normal time and the second at 6th period 18:10-19:40. Scheduled class on December 3 is cancelled

  • Class Issue: In this unit, we begin to tie together many of the structural and cultural causes of individual suffering in the Disconnected Society (mu-en shakai). From the emptying out of the traditional farming communities in the countryside and the mass relocation of people into the cities, we see some of the early roots of the Mu-en Shakai in the two-tiered labor system of the economy and the exploitation of blue-collar labor. The Mu-en Shakai perhaps reaches its zenith with the 3/11 Triple Disaster and ongoing nuclear problem in Fukushima. This incident has presented a serious challenge to Japanese Buddhists who since the end of WWII have tried to avoid entanglement in issues perceived as political and anything critical of national development policy. In this unit, students will have the opportunity to examine a wide range of issues and responses by contemporary Japanese Buddhists trying to build an alternative society.
  • Content I: Depopulation, Poverty, and Suicide in Rural Japan: From Disconnection (mu-en) to Interconnection (yu-en)
  • Content II & Video for 12/5: Disposable Culture & Disposable Labor & The Nuclear Ginza 26 mins. During the video takes notes using the Iceberg of Dukkha from the Buddhist Social Analysis model.
  • Content III & Video for 12/12: From the Ghetto to the Pure Land: The Activities of the Hitosaji Association & Living in Sanya: A 3rd Generation Postwar Monk 山谷に生きる：僧侶…親子三代の戦後 January 23, 2022 NHK Documentary
  • Entire Content: A Buddhist Path through Rural Decline, Migrant Laborers, Poverty & Homelessness (PDF) click here for audio lecture
  • Reading of Content: Rebuilding Human Bonds amidst Japan’s Disconnected Society: A Buddhist Path through Rural Decline, Migrant Laborers, Poverty & Homelessnes
  • Follow-up Reading: Selections from the book Lotus in the Nuclear Sea

FIELD TRIP! Homeless “Patrol” with the Hitosaji Association in Asakusa (early December 15:30-21:30). This is a very special opportunity to learn directly from the founder and head priest of Hitosaji, Rev. Gakugen Yoshimizu, who last year was portaryed in an hour long NHK documentary. Usually this event is only held twice a month on Mondays, but because of Rev. Yoshimizu’s great generosity, he will run a private session just with our Keio students! Meet at the Mita campus courtyard at 15:30. Limited to 10 people.

December 17:  Nuclear Energy & the Eco-Temple

FIELD TRIP! Eco-Temples & Community Development (December 14 or 15 @ 14:00-16:30) with Rev. Hidehito Okochi, Keio graduate and abbot of two eco-temples in Edogawa-ku & Bunkyo-ku. Meet at Funabori Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line at 13:15.

NOTE: Your personal reflection, bibliography, and charts for your final oral exam should be turned in before winter break on December 24. See details here.

Unit 4: From Imperial-Way Buddhism 皇道仏教 to Prayers for Peace

December 24 & January 7: December 24 class is cancelled & will be made up on January 7 during 6th period. Have a nice holiday and New Year!

  • Class Issue: In this unit, we complete the journey from the individual to the collective or social by looking at the ultimate of political and national issues, war & peace. We first take a critical look into Japanese Buddhism’s support for militaristic nationalism from the Meiji Period to the end of WWII. We then look at its complicated development since that time with many Buddhist groups becoming active in “peace activities” yet very few facing the political issues that make the real foundations of peace. 
  • Video: Zen and War During the video takes notes using the Iceberg of Dukkha from the Buddhist Social Analysis model
  • Follow-up Reading:  Nuclear Power is Incompatible with the Way of the Buddha / 原発は仏の道とあいいれない by Rev. Taitsu Kono (Sekai Magazine June 2012)
  • Content 1: War Responsibility and Social Discrimination: The Problem of Moral Authority in Modern Japanese Buddhism
  • Content 2: Lotus Sutra Social Activism in Contemporary Japan (PDF) click here for audio lecture plus videos of previous peace demonstrations with Nipponzan Myohoji (Note: the PDF is slightly more up to date)

FIELD TRIP! November 3/TBA Visit to the Nipponzan Myohoji center in Shibuya and to interview the monks about non-violent civil disobedience and peace walks. Nipponzan Myohoji is the most active postwar Japanese Buddhist group in peace actions not only inside Japan but all over the world. There will also be a chance to learn about and praticipate in their practice of venerating the Lotus Sutra through chanting with hand held drums.

Unit 5: The Next Stage of Engaged Buddhism in Japan?

January 14: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Japanese Buddhism

  • Class Issue: This course has followed a journey from individual suffering into collective suffering and the need for social justice and social change in various aspects of Japan’s social systems and culture. Gender disparity and social exclusion are two major areas of both individual and collective suffering in Japan. Especially in terms of gender disparity, Japanese Buddhists and even social engaged ones fall short of actively engaging in this issue. This class will look at this problem and the possibility that this could be the next important movement in Japanese Buddhist social activitism.
  • Group work: Building a gender based critique and analysis of Japanese society and Japanese Buddhism
  • Content: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Japanese Buddhism
  • Video: A Monk Who Wears Heels about Rev. Kodo Nishimura a Buddhist priest from the Japanese Jodo Pure Land denomination, makeup artist, LGBTQ activist, and model. NHK World Documentary. March 5, 2022

January 21: From Social Dukkha to Social Nirvana

  • Class Issue: In this last unit, we will take a final, comprehensive view of the Iceberg of Dukkha in Japan and then look at the potentials of Buddhism to offer a future vision and path for Japanese society, specifically through the work of Prof. Jun Nishikawa, the late professor of development economics at Waseda University
  • Student Preparation for class: Choose ONE each of a 1) Holding Action, 2) Alternative Structure, 3) Shift in Consciousness that we have seen in this class and be prepared to share in class
  • Group Work: Review the various activities by Japanese socially engaged Buddhists to engage in holding actions, and build alternative structures and shifts in consciousness (culture).
  • Content: The Final Iceberg of Japanese Dukkha & the Potential of Japanese Socially Engaged Buddhism (PDF) click here for the audio lecture Note: The PDF at the beginning is more up to date
  • Follow-up Reading: The Choice of Development Paradigms in Japan after the 3:11 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster by Jun Nishikawa
  • Conclusion: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra, the “Perfection of Wisdom” (Prajna Paramita)