Japanese Buddhism Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History A Cultural History

Book Summary

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. Delving 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. Buddhism was founded in India more than two thousand years ago, but the Japanese molded it to suit their culture, and it became one of the most enduring and far-reaching cultural and intellectual forces in Japan's history. The stamp of Japanese Buddhism is unmistakable in the nation's poetry, literature, and art; and the imprint of Japan's indigenous culture is clear from the amalgamation of pre-Buddhist worship and esoteric Buddhism in the practice of the Shugendo ascetics. Japan's Buddhism and the nation's cultural infrastructure are so inextricably linked that it is impossible to understand one without the other. "Japanese Buddhism"is both a history of Japanese Buddhism and an introduction to Japan's political, social, and cultural history. It examines Japanese Buddhism in the context of literary and intellectual trends and of other religions, exploring social and intellectual questions that an ordinary history of religion would not address.

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