Zen War Stories (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism) - Hardcover

Victoria, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700715800 ISBN 13: 9780700715800

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

Following the critically acclaimed Zen at War (1997), Brian Victoria explores the intimate relationship between Japanese institutional Buddhism and militarism during the Second World War.
Victoria reveals for the first time, through examination of the wartime writings of the Japanese military itself, that the Zen school's view of life and death was deliberately incorporated into the military's programme of 'spiritual education' in order to develop a fanatical military spirit in both soldiers and civilians.  Furthermore, that D. T. Suzuki, the most famous exponent of Zen in the West, is shown to have been a wartime proponent of this Zen-inspired viewpoint which enabled Japanese soldiers to leave for the battlefield already resigned to death.  Victoria takes us onto the naval battlefield in the company of warrior-monk and Rinzai Zen Master Nakajima Genjô.  We view the war in China through the eyes of a Buddhist military chaplain.  The book also examines the relationship to Buddhism of Japan's seven Class-A war criminals who were hung by the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1948.
A highly controversial study, this book will be of interest, first and foremost, to students of Zen as well as all those studying the history of this period, not to mention anyone concerned with the perennial question of the 'proper' relationship between religion and the state.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Daizen Victoria holds a M.A. in Buddhist Studies from Soto Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University. Brian entered the Soto Zen priesthood in 1964 and. following training at Daihonzan Eiheiji, pursued graduate studies in Buddhism at Soto Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo. At present, Brian is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia

Review

'Victoria presents us with a carefully documented study.' - Japanese Journal of Religious Studies

'This case material comes with an accompanying critical commentary. This provocative book will interest those concerned with the ideology and psychology of late imperial Japan and the possible uses of Buddhism in justifying holy war.' - Journal of Military Ethics, 2003

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0700715800
• ISBN 13: 9780700715800
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272