Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History
Upon reaching Japan, Buddhism, which was founded in India two thousand years ago, collided with an island civilization with its own firmly entrenched cultural and even religious infrastructure. The result, as the Japanese embraced this new, foreign-born religion, was a centuries-long "chemical reaction" between religion and culture. This book, written by one of Japan's most outstanding scholars on Buddhism, traces that journey from the beginning through our own time. Japanese Buddhism...
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Upon reaching Japan, Buddhism, which was founded in India two thousand years ago, collided with an island civilization with its own firmly entrenched cultural and even religious infrastructure. The result, as the Japanese embraced this new, foreign-born religion, was a centuries-long "chemical reaction" between religion and culture. This book, written by one of Japan's most outstanding scholars on Buddhism, traces that journey from the beginning through our own time. Japanese Buddhism examines how the religion shaped the people—with their own rich history—even as the people shaped the religion, with the result that Japanese Buddhism is unique in the world today. Devling deeply into the interplay between Buddhism and Japanese poetry, literature and even politics, this book is an invaluable addition to our understanding of Japan, Buddhism, and the complex relationship between the two.
Preface7Editorial Note91Early Japan and the Arrival of Buddhism132The Birth of the Japanese Nation and the Ascent to Buddhism233The Buddhist Adaptation354The Japanese Response495Heian Buddhism: Saicho and Kukai596Tendai Philosophy: The Ideal and the Real737Pure Land Buddhism798The Founders of Kamakura Buddhism919Key Features of Kamakura Buddhism10310The Triumph of the Secular11311The Subjugation of Buddhism12712Challenges to the Old Order13913Religious Reform Movements14914Christianity and the Buddhist Renaissance15915The New Buddhism and the First Wave of New Religions16916The Second Wave of New Religions18317The New Religions and Mainstream Buddhism Before and During World War II19718Postwar New Religions and the Future of Buddhism207Index217
