Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History

Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History by Tamura, Yoshiro. paperback edition. ISBN: 9784333016846.

Buddhism was founded in India more than two thousand years ago, but the Japanese molded it to suit their culture, and it became one of the most enduring and far-reaching cultural and intellectual forces in Japans history. The stamp of Japanese Buddhism is unmistakable in the nations poetry, literature, and art; and the imprint of Japans indigenous culture is clear from the amalgamation of pre-Buddhist worship and esoteric Buddhism in the practice of the Shugendo ascetics. Japans Buddhism and the nations cultural infrastructure are so inextricably linked that it is impossible to understand one without the other. Japanese Buddhism is both a history of Japanese Buddhism and an introduction to Japans political, social, and cultural history. It examines Japanese Buddhism in the context of literary and intellectual trends and of other religions, exploring social and intellectual questions that an ordinary history of religion would not address.