Contemporary Buddhism in Japan & Asia

Readings: Japanese Buddhism and Social Suffering

Reading List Spring Semester

Introduction to Japanese Buddhism

Reading List Entry
Engaged Buddhism in Japan Vols. 1 & 2 -a complete guide to our course!
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies based at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya
Timeline of Japanese Buddhist History and Development
Wikipedia’s Buddhism in Japan!!!
Background in Socially Engaged Buddhism as the practice of confronting suffering in the world
The Four Noble Truths as Social Analysis and Praxis
The Tiep Hien Precepts by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Three Dimensions of the Great Turning by Joanna Macy

Japanese Buddhism & The civilizational culture of Buddhism meets Japan’s particular cultural identity

Reading List Entry
Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples (small excerpt) by Hajime Nakamura (University of Hawaii Press, 1964) – entire text available in the library
Japanese Civilization : A Comparative View by S. N. Eisenstadt (especially Chapter 10: Some Aspects of the Transformation of Confucianism and Buddhism in Japan) available in the library; for a review of the book by David R. Loy (PDF:EisenstadtLoyreview)
Cultural Tradition, Historical Experience, and Social Change: The Limits of Convergence by S. N. Eisenstadt
Japanese Ethics: Beyond Good and Evil by Robert J. Wargo
Japanese Religion and Society : Paradigms of Structure and Change by Winston Davis (State University of New York Press, 1992) available in the library
Against Harmony: Progressive and Radical Buddhism in Modern Japan by James Mark Shields (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017) available in the library

Japan Buddhism, Human Rights & Discrimination: Japan’s Outcastes, the Burakumin

Reading List Entry
Zen and the Art of Religious Prejudice: Efforts to Reform a Tradition of Social Discrimination by William Bodiford (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies #458, 23/1–2: 1-27, 1996)
Alldritt, Leslie D. (2000) “The Burakumin: The Complicity of Japanese Buddhism in Oppression and an Opportunity for Liberation” – Journal of Buddhist Ethics 7
Kasahara, Toshinori (1996) Shin Buddhism and the Buraku-min. Shin Dharma Net.
Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Edited by Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1997) – also available in the library

Japan Buddhism, Human Rights & Discrimination: Gender, women, and LGBTQ+

Reading List Entry
Feminist Buddhism as Praxis: Women in Traditional Buddhism by Noriko Kawahashi (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies #668, 30/3–4: 291–313, 2003 – more articles available on this site)
フェミニズムと宗教 川橋範子
「宗門における男女共同参画推進のために」　川橋範子
『ジェンダーで学ぶ宗教学』 川橋範子 （京 都 : 世界思想社 2007.10） – 慶応図書館内
「流転輪廻という混沌を体現する：クィア仏 教的「解放の神学」を目指して」ー ビー・シェーラー Bee Scherer（序文・訳:川本佳苗）
This Monk Wears Heels: Be Who You Are – Rev. Kodo Nishimura (Watkins Publishing, 2022)
See the Afterword in Engaged Buddhism in Japan Volume II by Watts for more resources

Buddhist Social Analysis & The Present Crisis in Japanese Society

Reading List Entry
Excerpt from Precarious Japan by Anne Allison (Duke University Press, 2013)
The Four Noble Truths: A Buddhist Approach to understanding self and society
“Buddhist Responses to Modern Violence: Storytelling-Structural Analysis-Ethical Praxis” by Jonathan S. Watts – ReVision (Fall 2003, Vol. 26 No. 2)
Rethinking Karma: The Dharma of Social Justice (Ed. Jonathan S. Watts, 2014, 2nd edition)
“Cultural Violence” by Johan Galtung – Journal of Peace Research Vol. 27, No. 3 (Aug., 1990), pp. 291-305
“Religions: Hard and Soft” by Johan Galtung – Cross Currents Vol. 47, No. 4 (New Rochelle; Winter 1997/1998), pp. 437-450

The Present Crisis in Japanese Buddhism

Reading List Entry
Reconstructing Priestly Identity and Roles in Contemporary Japan and the Development of Socially Engaged Buddhism (first 1/3 to the beginning of section II on page 8) (PDF:WattsOkanoJSEB)
Young Japan priests try to breathe life into fading Buddhism – Malcolm Foster (AP, June 13, 2020)
Buddhism and Civil Society in Japan: The Search for Socially Engaged Buddhism in Japan by Jonathan Watts
A Brief Overview of Buddhist NGOs in Japan by Jonathan Watts (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies #700, 31/2: 417–428, 2004)
The Secularization of Japanese Buddhism: The Priest as Profane Practitioner of the Sacred by Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu
Stickers for Nails: The Ongoing Transformation of Roles, Rites, and Symbols in Japanese Funerals by Mark Rowe
Japanese Temple Buddhism: Worldliness in a Religion of Renunciation by Stephen Covell (University of Hawaii Press, 2006) – available in the library
Traditional Buddhism in Contemporary Japan [complete volume of essays] (Eds. Stephen Covell and Mark Rowe, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 2004, 31/2)
『地球寂静 : ボランティアが未来を変えるNGOは世界を変える』 有馬実成著 (京都 : アカデミア出版会 2003.12) – 慶応図書館内

Human Relationships I: Dying and Grieving in an Aging Society & the Potential of Buddhist Chaplaincy

Reading List Entry
Challenges of Caring for the Aging and Dying: Lessons from Japan by Carl B. Becker
Tear Down the Wall: Bridging the Pre-Mortem and Post-Mortem Worlds in Japanese Medical and Spiritual Care – Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu
医師の「役割」を考える：僧侶が医学部で異色の授業（戸松義晴）
“True View”: Shifting to the Patient’s Standpoint of Suffering in a Buddhist Hospital – Dr. Hayashi Moichiro
「緩和ケアビハーラ病棟の五年間」 – 林茂一郎
The Vihara Movement: Buddhist Chaplaincy and Social Welfare in Japan – Rev. Yozo Taniyama
One Dies as One Lives: The Importance of Developing Pastoral Care Services and Religious Education – Rev. Mari Sengoku
Amans: A Buddhist Nun’s Efforts to Unite the Medical and Religious Worlds in Death – Rev. Keido Iijima
アマンズ のダイアローグ：「遺族外来」のある病院 – 飯島惠道
The Saimyo-ji Temple-Hospital Care Facility: Continuing the Ancient Tradition of Holistic Care from Buddhist Temples (by Rev./Dr. Masahiro Tanaka and Dr. Teiga Tanaka)
An Introduction to Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved in the Modern World – Jonathan Watts
医療・ 仏教・死の現場～海外の事例が日本に示唆するもの – ジョナサン・ワッツ
The Potential of Rinsho Buddhism and Developing Buddhist Chaplaincy in Post 3/11 Japan by Rev. Hitoshi Jin
Contemplative Care & Spirituality: Going Beyond Mindfulness Practice for Being with Suffering & Grief (Public Symposium, November 4, 2017)
Considering Life (Inochi) Care: What Sort of Spiritual Care can be Adapted to Japanese Spirituality? (Public Symposium, September 15, 2016)
Ghosts of the Tsunami (Profile of Rev. Taio Kaneda, London Review of Books, February 6, 2014)
Buddhist Priests Who Are Present at the Time of Death by Kyoko Isa (Asahi Shimbun, January 28, 2013)
The Deep Listening Gyocha Volunteer Activities of the Soto Zen Youth Association by Rev. Taiko Kyuma (January, 2012)

Human Relationships II: The 1st Noble Truth of the Suicide Prevention Priests

Reading List Entry
Journey Through Dukkha: The Suicide Prevention Priests of Japan Enter into Structural Violence and Connect to Social Change
LAST CALL: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (Profile of Rev. Jotetsu Nemoto, June 24, 2013)
「自殺したら成仏できないのか」という重い問い：自死に向き合う僧侶

Development I: Economic Development & Community – from the 2nd to 4th Noble Truths with the Suicide Prevention Priests

Reading List Entry
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

Development II: The Homeless & Workers in the Nuclear Industry

Reading List Entry
Homelessness in Japan: Unique solutions with broad benefit – NHK World Japan (Oct. 18, 2024)
Rebuilding Human Bonds amidst Japan’s Disconnected Society: A Buddhist Path through Rural Decline, Migrant Laborers, Poverty & Homelessness (October 13, 2020)
Towards Reviving a Society with Connection (yu-en): The Hitosaji Association’s Work with the Homeless and Disconnected (mu-en) (October 4, 2018)

Development III: Clean Energy & the Eco-Temple

Reading List Entry
Shift the Power: Building a Buddhist Temple Community as a Mechanism for Environmental and Social Change (November 2, 2018)
Deconstructing the Myths of Nuclear Energy and Building a Pure Land without Nuclear or Military Presence by Rev. Hidehito Okochi (2012)
The Eco-Temple Community Development Project
After the Paris-Agreement: Corporate Meltdown in the Nuclear Industry/パリ合意後、世界の原発はどうなっているのか原子力企業のメルトダウン by Mycle Schneider (April 14, 2016) – see also the World Nuclear Industry Status Report
Recommended: For students concentrating on this issue, read:
Kenju-in: An Eco-Temple Protecting Forests and Building Health and Longevity through Everyone’s Energy / 見樹院の取り組み 「森を守り、健康で長寿 命の建築をみんなの力で
The homepage of Juko-in, Rev. Okochi’s green temple in Edogawa-ku (日本語だけ)
The Greening of the Self by Joanna Macy (日本語: 自己の緑化)
原子力行政を問い直す宗教者の会
宗教者が核燃料サイクル事業廃止を求める裁判
2012/04/26 地域といのちを守れ！フクシマ全国集会
原発事故から被曝労働まで 人間の絆分断に警鐘鳴らす (2012年1月17日)
For a wide range of articles on the nuclear issue and Japanese Buddhism see this site!

Politics I: War and Japanese Buddhism

Reading List Entry
Nuclear Power Is Incompatible with the Way of the Buddha / 原発は仏の道とあいいれない – Rev. Taitsu Kono (Sekai Magazine, June 2012)
Buddhist federation speaks out against nuclear power: An Interview with Rev. Taitsu Kono (Asahi Shimbun, March 21, 2012)
Zen At War (excerpt) by Brian Victoria (New York: Weatherhill, 1997)
Zen and Japanese Culture (excerpt) by Daisetzu T. Suzuki (Tokyo: Charles E Tuttle Company, 1959) – Chapters 4, 5 & 6
“Japanese Nationalism and the Universal Dharma” by Kawanami Hiroko (in Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth-Century Asia, Continuum, 1999)
Rebuking the Enemies of the Lotus: Nichirenist Exclusivism in Historical Perspective by Jacqueline Stone (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies #421, 21/2–3:231-59, 1994)
Sōka Gakkai Founder, Makiguchi Tsunesaburō, A Man of Peace? (The Asia Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, 37:3, August 4, 2014)
Religion and the Japanese Empire [complete volume of essays] (Ed. Richard M. Jaffe, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 2010, 37/1)
Creation of Worship for War Criminals at Yasukuni Shrine in the 1970s from “Japanese Secularities and the Decline of Temple Buddhism” by John K. Nelson
Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603 by Stephen Turnbull (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003) – available in the library
Sohei: Japanese Warrior Monks (Wikipedia)

Politics II: Peace and Japanese Buddhism

Reading List Entry
Nichiren’s Activist Heirs: Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai, Nipponzan Myohoji by Jacqueline Stone (from Action Dharma, 2003)
Which Way to Peace? The Role of Japanese Buddhism in Anti-Nuclear Civil Protest by Jonathan Watts
Komeito’s Soka Gakkai Protesters and Supporters: Religious Motivations for Political Activism in Contemporary Japan by Levi McLaughlin (The Asia-Pacific Journal, Oct. 12, 2015)
State Power vs Individual Freedom: Japan’s Constitutional Past, Present, and Possible Futures by Lawrence Repeta & Colin P.A. Jones (in Japan: The Precarious Future, 2015)
New Komeito’s Role as Partner to the Right Leaning LDP Led Government (Japan Times, September 24, 2014)
The Anti-Nuclear Protest Movement in 2011 and Nipponzan Myohoji
Seno Giro and the Dilemma of Modern Buddhism: Leftist Prophet of the Lotus Sutra by Whalen Lai (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies #184, 11/1:7–42, 1984)
Rissho Koseikai’s Arms Down Campaign for Shared Security
My Non Violence: An Autobiography of a Japanese Buddhist by Nichidatsu Fujii (exerpt)
Another exerpt about Nichidatsu Fujii from the biography of Maha Ghosananda – the great peace monk from Cambodia
Video: Check out these extra links on the Cambodian Peace March with Nipponzan Myohoji and this video of their chanting

Buddhism and the Future of Japan

Reading List Entry
The Choice of Development Paradigms in Japan after the 3/11 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster by Jun Nishikawa
The Religion of the Market by David R. Loy (The Journal of the American Academy of Religion 65/2)
Buddhist Economics by E.F. Schumacher from Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered – also available in Japanese (スモール・イズ・ビューティフル : 人間中心の経済学)
『環境・福祉・経済倫理と仏教 : 現代を生きるための叡智』 芹川博通著 (京都 : ミネルヴァ書房 2002.10) – 慶応図書館内
Dhammic Socialism by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. Trans. Donald Swearer (Bangkok: Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development, 1993) – 日本語：タンマ社会主義 (scroll down halfway)
Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Market Place by Ven. P.A. Payutto (Bangkok: Buddhadhamma Foundation, 1992)
西川潤 「開 発(かいほつ)と仏教:タイにおける内発的発展の担い手としての仏教」 from 西川潤と野田真里「仏教・開発(かいほつ)・NGO:タイ開発(かいほつ)僧に学ぶ共生の智慧」 (東京：新評論出版社、2001)
仏教経済で社会変革を「欲望肥大」の政策から縮小させる重要性説く