A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms

A vital resource for students of Buddhism and Japanese Culture, revised and expanded.

Buddhism has permeated Japanese life and thought so deeply that knowledge of it is essential for a true understanding of any aspect of Japanese culture. This dictionary, with nearly five thousand entries on Buddhist terms, personal names, ceremonies, texts, and sects, will be of special interest to scholars and students of literature. Most entries have been drawn from such classics as Shasekishu Kokon chomonju, Hojoki, Makura no soshi, Tsurezure-gusa, Heike monogatari, and Taiheiki.

Hisao Inagaki (d. 2021) received a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and was a professor at Ryukoku University in Kyoto.

HISAO INAGAKI (d. 2021) graduated from Kobe City University of Foreign Languages (B.A.) and Ryukoku University (M.A.). With the award of a British Council scholarship, he spent two years in England from 1966 and received his Ph.D. in 1968 from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He returned to the School the following year with an appointment as lecturer in Buddhism and held this post until 1981. He then became a professor at Ryukoku University, Kyoto. He was appointed to the Numata professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989, and at Leiden University in 1992.

Besides his major works, A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms, A Tri-lingual Glossary of the Sukhavativytiha Sutras, The Anantamukhanirharadharani Sutra and Jnanagarbha's Commentary, and The Three Pure Land Sutras: A Study and Translation, he has published translations of such Buddhist texts as: Pratyutpannasamadhi Sutra, T'an-luan's Ojoronchu, Shan-tao's Kannenbomon and Hanjusan, and Kukai'sSokushinjobutsugi. He was also co-translator of Shinran’s Kyogyoshinsho (selections) and other Shin texts.

He served as President of the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies since 1993 and as its honorary President since 2005. His most recent project was creation of the English Shin journal “Dharma Thunder”.

PG O'Neill is Professor of Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he also obtained his Ph.D. in 1957 with a thesis on traditional Japanese drama.