The Revolution of Buddhist Modernism

Western scholarship on Shin Buddhism has increased significantly in recent years. Jeff Schroeder's book adds another layer of knowledge to the field of Buddhism and modernity. It is an excellent introduction to modern Shin Buddhism for a Western readership. Based on in-depth research, Schroeder offers detailed analyses of the works of four major figures (i.e., Kiyozawa Manshi, Sasaki Gesshō, Soga Ryōjin, and Kaneko Daiei) affiliated with the Shinshū Otani-ha known as Higashi Honganji, and he historicizes their interpretations of Buddhism as well as their institutional actions in both Japanese and Western contexts. While those four priests stand out as charismatic independent thinkers who modernized their tradition, Schroeder argues that a new orthodoxy also emerged as Higashi Honganji as a whole redefined itself to keep pace with a society that was rapidly changing and responded to the conditions of the modern imperial nation state of Japan. Schroeder's study encompasses the postwar period and examines the democratization of the denomination, which also involved another group, or generation, of influential Shin Buddhist leaders including Kurube Shin'yū and Yasuda Rijin.The book is divided into three sections—intellectual, institutional, and national politics of the Otani-ha denomination of Shin Buddhism from 1890 to 1962—and consists of six chapters. In each chapter, Schroeder considers the tension between conservatives and reformers (or between traditionalists and modernists) to be the driving force behind the modern, democratic development of Higashi Honganji. He analyzes the positions of the conservatives and reformers, discusses the outcomes and implications of their conflicts, and situates various incidents of the Higashi Honganji within broader contexts. Schroeder reads primary sources well (these are not easy to understand, because of the introspective nature of the writings, which include the doctrinal language of Shin Buddhism), translates them into English in a readable manner, and discusses their significance eloquently. Through the case study of the Otani Shin Buddhist community, the book offers insight into how Buddhism emerged into modernity.Nonetheless, Schroeder could have expanded the three aspects of Shin Buddhist politics he discussed. Regarding the section on intellectual politics, for example, the place of Confucianism in Kiyozawa's life could have been evaluated. While research on Kiyozawa has primarily dealt with how he interpreted Shin Buddhism in modern conditions, the influence of Confucianism during the formative years of Kiyozawa's religious life is understudied. It is difficult to explain Kiyozawa's strong sense of obligation and loyalty purely in Buddhist terms. Discussions of the Confucian influence on Kiyozawa's upbringing, which would have formed his personality, as well as the cause of the stern moralistic attitude he ultimately liberated himself from, would have been intriguing. Moreover, the work of Akegarasu Haya and his place in the seishinshugi movement has also been overlooked. Akegarasu was not a scholar, unlike Kiyozawa, Soga, and Kaneko, but his Tannisho kōwa was read by a great number of people, and his influence went beyond the Shin Buddhist community. Schroeder discusses Akegarasu from time to time, but the book might have been more appealing if it had investigated the differences between Shin Buddhist scholars and proactive Shin proselytizers, as this would illuminate whether the popular Shin Buddhist movement was part of the intellectual politics of Higashi Honganji.Concerning the institutional politics of Shin Buddhism, the ouster of the abbot from the Higashi Honganji organization, which occurred as a result of the Dōbokai movement, was a major incident in the denomination's modern history. The contention between Higashi Honganji leaders and the abbot and his family began with the so-called Kaishin Incident of 1969. Higashi Honganji's removal of the abbot along with the group supporting him, and their subsequent break from the denomination, was significant because the abbot had formerly been identified as hossu (authority of the Dharma) and worshipped as ikibotoke (a living Buddha) in Higashi Honganji. After the incident, the abbot came to be called monshu (the head of the organization). The abbot, who was related to the emperor of Japan, was stripped of his exclusive authority and then became the symbol of a democratic religious organization. This change was brought about by a movement within Higashi Honganji and therefore differed from how the emperor was redefined as the symbol of democratic Japan “from above” (i.e., under the authority of the United States, which occupied Japan). The book mentions the removal of the abbot from Higashi Honganji only because Schroeder's study covers up to 1962. While a discussion of the Kaishin Incident is beyond the scope of the book, the Dōbokai movement generated a lasting impact on the Otani Shin Buddhist community and continues to affect Higashi Honganji's education programs to this day.In his discussion of national politics, Schroeder discusses the ways in which both traditionalist and modernist Shin priests spontaneously supported Imperial Japan's military aggression. These priests created wartime theologies during the 1930s and the early 1940s, though their doctrinal justifications were not necessarily the same. The modernists were more radical than the traditionalists because they related Shin Buddhist doctrine to the ideology of State Shinto and even equated Amida Buddha with the emperor. Regarding the war efforts made by Soga, Kaneko, and Akegarasu, Schroeder states, “They could have located the presence of Amida's salvific historical force in political dissidents and pacifists. Such was theoretically possible, but practically, it was near impossible” (184). In this regard, Schroeder could have discussed Takagi Kenmyō’s Buddhist socialism. Takagi was active in opposing minority discrimination, state-sponsored prostitution, and the Russo-Japanese War. Takagi was wrongfully arrested together with Kōtoku Shūsui and others during the High Treason Incident of 1910. Higashi Honganji defrocked him immediately after his sentencing, and Takagi then killed himself in Akita Prison in 1914. As a consequence of the Dōbokai movement, however, Higashi Honganji recognized the mistake it had made and reinstated Takagi to Higashi Honganji in 1996.Scholarship on modern Shin Buddhism has been male-centered and text-based, overlooking the discussion of liturgical changes and their implications. Schroeder's book is not an exception, but it nevertheless needs to be read for the study of Shin Buddhism in modern Japan, just as James Dobbins's Jōdoshinshū must be read for the study of Shin Buddhism in medieval Japan

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