Engaged Buddhism in Japan Vols. 1 & 2
a complete guide to our course!
Introduction to Japanese Buddhism
Recommended:
- Japanese Journal of Religious Studies based at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya
Background in Socially Engaged Buddhism as the practice of confronting suffering in the world
- 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
- 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
- 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+
- 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 by her 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
- 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 (A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation) Fall 2003, Volume 26 Number 2.
- Rethinking Karma: The Dharma of Social Justice. Ed. Jonathan S. Watts (Bangkok, Thailand: International Network of Engaged Buddhists, 2014, 2nd edition) (hardcopy for ¥500 from Prof. Watts)
- “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
- 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
- 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 presented by the Rinbutsuken Institute for Engaged Buddhism, the Sophia University Institute of Grief Care, and the Tokyo Jikei Medical University Palliative Care Center (November 4, 2017)
- Considering Life (Inochi) Care: What Sort of Spiritual Care can be Adapted to Japanese Spirituality? Public Symposium sponsored by the Rinbutsuken Institute for Engaged Buddhism and the Kyoto University Kokoro (Heart-Mind) Center Kyoto (September 15, 2016)
- Ghosts of the Tsunami (a profile of the work of Rev. Taio Kaneda, abbot of Tsudai-ji, a Soto Zen temple in Kurihara City, Miyagi & supervisor of Cafe de Monk, which provides counseling in disaster stricken areas) by Richard Lloyd Parry (London Review of Books, Vol. 36 No. 3, February 6, 2014)
- Buddhist Priests Who Are Present at the Time of Death by Kyoko Isa Asahi Shimbun January 28, 2013 (evening edition)
- 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
- 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 in The New Yorker Magazine 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
Recommended (For higher resolution, better quality copies of the 日本語pdf files, send me an e-mail and I will e-mail them to you):
- The Warmth of Connection: A Buddhist Path to the Realization of Healing (International Roundtable on Buddhist Psychology, Psycho-Spiritual Counseling, and Chaplaincy Training, March 12-15, 2019)
- Re-Awakening to Our Inter-connected World: Report on 1st International Conference on Buddhism, Suicide Prevention, and Psycho-Spiritual Counseling (November 6-10, 2017)
- Reconstructing Priestly Identity and Roles in Contemporary Japan and the Development of Socially Engaged Buddhism (last 2/3s) (PDF:WattsOkanoJSEB)
- Part II: What an Abbot can do for a follower who complains of “wanting to die” / 『死にたい』と訴える檀家に住職ができること日本語pdf
- Part I: In a society where there are about 90 suicides per day what can a priest do? / 一日約９０人も自殺する世に僧は何ができるか日 本語pdf
- 年二百万人の心が自殺で傷ついている今をどうするべきか
- Too Lonely to Die Alone: Internet Suicide Pacts and Existential Suffering in Japan by Chikako Ozawa-de Silva. Cult Med Psychiatry (2008) 32:516–551.
- 自殺実態白書(自殺対策支援セ ンター ライフリンク）
- Japan’s Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century by Jeff Kingston (RoutledgeCurzon, 2004) available in the library
- Can Religions Devise Policies for Coping with Suicide? by Rev. Masazumi Shojun Okano/ 日本語：「宗教教団が取り組む自殺対 策の可 能性を探る」岡野正純
Development I: Economic Development & Community – from the 2nd to 4th Noble Truths with the Suicide Prevention Priests
- 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
- 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)
- Buddhism and Social Activism in Today’s Japan: The Activities of the Hitosaji Association by Rev. Akinori Takase
- The homepage of the Hitosaji Asssociation ひとさじの会 of Buddhist priests who feed the homeless in Asakusa. And read more about their activities here in this article: 祖末に捨てられる食品を生かせるフードバンクとは？
- A Buddhist Perspective on Homelessness
- The 3 Structures of Discrimination: Rural Regions, Nuclear Contaminated Work, Children by Rev. Tetsuen Nakajima/ 警告発することも宗教活動：地方・被曝労働・子ども３つの差別構造がー中島哲演 (2011年6月2日)
- The life and work of a Buddhist nun who runs a homeless shelter in Sumida-ku, Tokyo.
- 「苦しいときこそ笑いなさい」
- 日 本の貧困支援を視察
- The homepage of “Life Forum” いのちのフォラム – run by a Jodo Shin-shu priests, Dai-iki Nakashita
- The Asahi Shimbun article on the public seminar with former Prime Minister Hatoyama 自殺と貧困問題解決に向けて改めて強い意思を示す 鳩山総 理・長妻大臣
- Reflections from a Buddhist on How Poverty Affects Children (日本語と英語は一緒に）貧困が子どもたちに及ばす影響に関する仏教的見地からの所見 – by Hidehito Okochi 大河内秀人
- VIDEO from a former student of the homeless at Shinjuku Station
Development III: Clean Energy & the Eco-Temple
- 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.
- 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マイケル・シュナイダー, Convening Lead Author and Publisher of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report. (April 14, 2016)
Recommended: For students concentrating on this issue for their final project, you are encouraged to read my books: Lotus in the Nuclear Sea: Fukushima and the Promise of Buddhism in the Nuclear Age (November, 2013) & This Precious Life: Buddhist Tsunami Relief and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Post 3/11 Japan (March, 2012)
- 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
- 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. I have an extra copy of this book that can be borrowed. First come, first served. Send me an e-mail.
- Zen and Japanese Culture (excerpt) by Daisetzu T. Suzuki (Tokyo: Charles E Tuttle Company, 1959) especially Chapters 4, 5 & 6 on Zen, Samurai and Swordsmanship. available in the library
- “Japanese Nationalism and the Universal Dharma” by Kawanami Hiroko. In Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth-Century Asia, edited by Ian Harris. London: Continuum, 1999. (copies available on request)
- 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? 創価学会の創立者・牧口恒三郎 平和を愛する男？by Brian Victoria. 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
Politics II: Peace and Japanese Buddhism
- Nichiren’s Activist Heirs: Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai, Nipponzan Myohoji by Jaqueline Stone from Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. Eds. Queen, Prebish, Keown. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. For a higher resolution, better quality copy of this pdf files, send me an e-mail and I will e-mail it to you.
- 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. Volume 13:41 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 Edited by Frank Baldwin and Anne Allison (New York University Press, 2015)
- New Komeito’s Role as Partner to the Right Leaning LDP Led Government (Japan Times September 24, 2014)
- 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 – the founder of the Nipponzan Myohoji (the monks who led the peace march in Kamakura last week) 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
- 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 available in library; スモール・イズ・ビューティフル : 人間中心の経済学 / E. F. シューマッハー著 ; 小島慶三, 酒井懋訳 慶応図書館内、上のリンクで日本語バージョンもある
- 『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
Contemporary Buddhism in Japan & Asia 
Leave a comment