The Idea of Japanese Buddhism: History, Modernity, and the Nation-State

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H06015
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: KLAUTAU Orion 東北大学, 国際文化研究科, 准教授 (10634967)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-08-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 日本仏教 / 近代国家 / 宗教言説 / ナショナリズム / 近代仏教 / Modern Buddhism

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research considered, in the context of the formation of modernity, shifts in the way Buddhists understood themselves vis-a-vis their "others" (Christians, Nativist scholars, foreigners, etc.), including changes in the ways they depicted their own history. I have focused mainly on five topics -- namely changes in the understanding of Buddhism after 1853; discussions of national morality in the Meiji 20s; educational enterprises and discourses on "shuyo" during the Meiji 30s; historical writing and nationalism in the Taisho and early Showa years; and the transition of the idea of "Japanese Buddhism" into the postwar period. Besides numerous specific findings pertaining to each of the above issues separately, I was also able to provide further insight on the broader role played by "Japanese Buddhism" as a discursive device within the framework of the modern state.

Free Research Field

思想史