In the second half of the nineteenth century, Buddhist higher educational institutions in the Jōdo Shin Ōtani and Sōtō Zen sects became sites of dramatic student protests. This article situates these movements within three overlapping contexts: student strikes in Japan, parallel activism in the United States and parts of Europe, and institutional changes that contributed to the professionalization of the Buddhist priesthood. Student-priests, emboldened by a growing conviction that they had the right to participate in institutional governance, challenged traditional authority and staged collective actions, which were far from isolated incidents. Instead, these protests reflected a broader national and global phenomenon of late nineteenth-century student activism and a shift in attitudes toward educational and religious authority. Student-led campaigns resulted in significant reforms, including the removal of lay administrators and the establishment of public discussion halls. Drawing on frameworks from sociology and the history of higher education, this study argues that such activism was pivotal in the modernization of Japanese Buddhism. These protests not only catalyzed institutional change but also played a crucial role in establishing academic freedom within Buddhist universities and reshaping the relationship between religious authority and educational independence, leaving a lasting impact on Japanese Buddhism.

Ever since Kami Poems and Buddhist Poems were added to imperial waka anthologies as individual categories in the mid-twelfth century, they have always appeared together; the inclusion of one always involves the other, and vice versa. In many imperial anthologies, these categories include poems that are taken to be oracles from the kami or buddhas. An analysis of these oracle poems reveals the nature of the relationship between humans and divine figures at the time. These poems demonstrate the heightened popularity of poems dedicated to the various gods and buddhas, the beliefs of the emperors who ordered the compilation of these imperial waka anthologies, and the increased prominence of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism.

Borders are everywhere.They can be found not only on maps and at demilitarized zones, but anywhere where there is a question of in or out, more or less, or yes or no.Borders are crucial for understanding nations, estates, rules of conduct, social norms, and our very bodies.When we think of the role of borders in religion, there are several classical approaches that immediately suggest themselves.Perhaps most obviously, borders suggest boundaries, modes of separating, distinguishing domains of space or perhaps thought.They are where we "draw the line, " how we locate the inner and outer, the self and other, the native and foreign.Borders also lend themselves easily to spatialized modes of thinking.They can be drawn or represented graphically on maps, in graphs, and in charts.Perhaps most fundamentally, borders so conceived help us think in terms of structure, of lines of separation in physical and conceptual spaces.They are easily abstracted, capable of being conceived in almost mathematical abstraction, as static as the objects in an Euclidean proof.This line of thinking has infused some of the most well-established theories across a number of fields in the humanities.It can be seen throughout the work of Mary Douglas, who in her Purity and Danger famously explored issues of pollution and taboo in terms of cultural boundaries and classifications (Douglas 1966).For Douglas, taboos serve as the borders of what is acceptable and in accord with social values-what is, in a word, safe.Societies need taboos and

This article asks how the Buddhist paradigm of the interdependence between the Buddha’s law and the ruler’s law was modified over the centuries and reinterpreted by nineteenth-century authors in the face of rapid political, social, and epistemic changes. An analysis of relevant texts reveals continuities as well as discontinuities. While the paradigm’s basic function of guaranteeing autonomy and protection to Buddhist institutions remained largely unchanged, remarkable transformations in the argumentation are evident. Despite, or because of, the precarious position of Buddhism in the early Meiji period, Buddhist authors from this era choose an apologetic strategy. With some slight differences, they emphasize almost exclusively the intramundane benefits of Buddhism and thus defend themselves against the accusation that Buddhism is solely relevant to otherworldly matters. The most radical innovation, however, is the assertion that all secular norms and rules of governance are ultimately Buddhist in origin.

Based on trainees’ testimonies published in 1941 by the Imperial Rule Assistance League, this article examines the spectrum of identification seen in an early 1940s spiritual cultivation regimen of cold-water purification (misogi) aiming to enhance popular commitment to such national projects as Japan’s war in China and the eradication of liberalism. The revival and ritualization of misogi within modern Shinto was initially led by Kawazura Bonji and later taken up with government sponsorship by a variety of influential Shinto figures, who promoted it within the league. While the league’s misogi programs conveyed a distinctive notion of identity for Japanese men, and while trainees’ testimonies show that they affirmed and identified themselves with it, it is also clear that the training regimen failed to meet their expectations in significant respects. In addition, a 1942 doctrinal dispute greatly undermined the intellectual coherence of misogi training and its concept of identity.

My evaluation of Niwa Nobuko's book "Sryorashisa" to "joseirashisa" no shky shakaigaku questions whether the surge in acclaim for scholarship uncritical of the oppression against women in Japan is justified. 1 Niwa's monograph tells the life stories of female Nichiren Buddhist priests in Japan. The book's purpose is "to record and explicate 'what it is for a woman to live as a priest' in present-day Japanese society." Against the backdrop of "the realities involved when women with diverse backgrounds and a variety of attributes are active as priests in society, " the book also aims to "give an account of those women priests together with their contemporaneous social context" (i-ii). To do this, the author drew on her interviews with female Buddhist priests, experiential sources, and sectarian survey data.