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This chapter is an author preview (or page proof) of the final version to be published in fall 2014 by OUP. There are a few typos, formatting issues, and other minor stuff that I caught and corrected (hopefully). The chapter appears in the university level textbook, World Religions: Eastern Traditions, edited by W. Oxtoby (who is deceased but apparently has name recognition, so Oxford still lists him), Roy Amore, and Amir Hussain. I don't know how long this chapter will be available here but I think it may help to promote interest in the overall project and so is worth posting on this website. We shall see.
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
Shinto as a Religion for the Warrior Class: The Case of Yoshikawa Koretari2002 •
2011 •
Cambridge University Press, 2011 Frontmatter, pp i-vi Contents pp, vii-viii List of Boxes, Figures, and Maps, pp ix-x Preface pp, xi-xii 1 - In the beginning: Religion and history, pp 1-14 2 - Ming China: The fourteenth century's new world order, pp 15-52 3 - The Buddha and the shōgun in sixteenth-century Japan, pp 53-71 4 - Opportunities lost: The failure of Christianity, 1550–1750, pp 72-93 5 - Buddhism: Incarnations and reincarnations, pp 94-122 6 - Apocalypse now, pp 123-141 7 - Out of the twilight: Religion and the late nineteenth century, pp 142-160 8 - Into the abyss: Religion and the road to disaster during the early twentieth century, pp 161-193 9 - Brave new world: Religion in the reinvention of postwar Asia, pp 194-223 10 - The globalization of Asian religion, pp 224-230 Glossary pp, 231-236 Timeline of dynasties and major events, pp 237-238 Suggestions for further reading, pp 239-244 Index, pp 245-259
In Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies, J. Babb ed., Sage, 2015. (Reprint, with amendments and photos, of the Introduction to Japanese Religions, Sage Major Works, 4 vols, L. Dolce, ed., 2012, vol. 1, pp. xix-lvii).
The Practice of Religion in Japan: An Exploration of the State of the Field.Buddhist Studies are often seen as older than, or more traditional than Zen Buddhism. These papers outline how the practice of sitting and chanting developed Buddhist Philosophy into a school of knowledge and practice called Zen Buddhism
History of Religions
The Pure Land is No Heaven: Habian's Myōtei Dialogues Valignano's Japanese Catechism, and Discourse on the Afterlife During Japan's Christian Century2018 •
This paper investigates the salient divergences regarding afterlife discourse during the late 16th /early 17th century between a Japanese convert (Fukansai Habian) and a European Jesuit (Alessandro Valignano) as represented in their respective tracts, Myōtei Dialogues and Japanese Catechism. This is significant since we can see in detail for the first time a sustained comparison between a Japanese and European Christian in early modern Japan regarding how they both argue for the infeasibility of the Buddhist Pure Land as an afterlife eventuality, while asserting the validity of the Christian Heaven. This touches upon issues of the experiencing medium (soul), perceived characteristics of the afterlife (whether physical or spiritual), and the correct methodology for its attainment. In addition, while the European Jesuit refutes the Pure Land by comparing it with the Christian Heaven, Habian does so by revealing its true nature to be a void, something he achieves through a selective use of Buddhist doctrines. With Habian we have an interesting case study since not only was he an immensely capable and active Jesuit, he also became such an apostate after he left Christianity and turned his polemic against his former religion. Within our investigation we will see how aspects of cultural conditioning highlight the hermeneutic challenges concomitant with introducing a new afterlife discourse in early modern Japan.
2009 •
Shugendo is a fascinating subject that crosses conceptual and scholarly boundaries. This is a cause of its richness, but also has led to a great deal of misunderstanding. A major concern remains its definition; if this article brings readers to a greater awareness of its parameters, the author will be well-satisfied. My purpose here is not so much a description of Shugendo history and rituals, important as they are, as to introduce contemporary scholarship regarding them, primarily in English, but also to a lesser extent in French and German, to an English readership. It has been impossible to do this without reference to the Japanese scholarship upon which much of that work is indebted, since knowledge of this scholarship is crucial in dispelling Western misconceptions about Shugendo. Therefore, at the risk of excluding scholars of religion who cannot access the work directly because of the linguistic limitations, I have attempted to draw the attention of readers to the most significant works written in Japanese on the subject as well. At the same time, bearing in mind that this article is not intended simply for historians of religion already in the Japanese field, I have felt it to be important to provide the broadest possible selection of works in English that relate to the theme, to allow English language readers a wide access to monographs and articles about Shugendo or Shugendo-related subjects. Space considerations have circumscribed detailed discussion of the research history, but every effort has been made to refer to the main issues involved.
The Japan Society Review, Issue 33 Volume 6 Number 3 (June 2011)
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Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
Tracing shinto in the history of kami worship2002 •
Religion Compass
Christian–Buddhist Polemics in Late Medieval/Early Modern Japan2014 •
Mark Teeuwen and Fabio Rambelli (eds.), Buddhas and Kami in Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, pp. 204–221.
Both Parts or Only One? Challenges to the honji suijaku Paradigm in the Edo Period2003 •
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Constructing a Place, Fracturing a Geography: The Case of the Japanese Tendai Cleric Jōin2017 •
Veronika Wieser, Vincent Eltschinger, and Johann Heiss, eds., Cultures of Eschatology, Volume 2: Time, Death and Afterlife in Medieval Christian, Islamic and Buddhist Communities. Berlin: De Gruyter
Death and Pollution as a Common Matrix of Japanese Buddhism and Shintō2020 •
St Andrews Research Respository
Rethinking the History of Conversion to Christianity in Japan: 1549-16442018 •
Working Paper Series of the HCAS "Multiple Secularities - Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities"
Christoph Kleine: "The Secular Ground Bass of Pre-modern Japan Reconsidered. Reflections upon the Buddhist Trajectories towards Secularity" (# 5)History of Religions
The Disappearing Medium: Reassessing the Place of Miko in the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan2011 •
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
The Robe of Leaves A Nineteenth-Century Text of Shugendo Apologetics2019 •