This panel consolidates four papers analyzing aspects of Japanese religions often neglected in dominant historiographies. The first paper explores premodern Buddhist didactic tales featuring impoverished women who pray to Kannon for worldly blessings and argues that these “tales of poor women” associated with Kiyomizudera shaped the development of the temple as a cultic center in Heian Japan (794–1185). The second paper traces the movement of Chinese Buddhists who traveled to early twentieth-century Japan to study Esoteric Buddhism and the impacts these actors had on the revival of Esoteric Buddhism in China. The third paper examines an “occult metahistory” discourse connecting ancient Japanese and Jews and considers why such a discourse gained traction in modern Japan. Finally, the fourth paper highlights Billy Graham’s visit to Japan in 1956 and investigates the implications of the visit for Japanese society in the context of Cold War politics.
This paper explores a sub-genre of premodern Japanese Kannon setsuwa known as “tales of poor women (貧女譚).” Unlike early Chinese Guanyin miracle tales, Japanese Kannon setsuwa are notable for their explicit focus on female sexuality, as well as their frequent (and approving) depiction of female protagonists of low social standing seeking wealth and other worldly benefits. By examining how such tales of marginalized women both shaped and were shaped by Buddhist institutions in 10th and 11th century Japan, this paper will explore how gender and marginality came to be intertwined with issues of pilgrimage, karmic efficacy and even literary genre in early medieval Japan. It also demonstrates how such narratives served as a medium through which underrepresented women influenced the history of Kiyomizudera, one of the best-known Buddhist institutions of Japan’s Heian period (794-1185).
This project follows Chinese Buddhists who traveled to Japan studying Esoteric Buddhism from 1910 to the 1930s, returning to China spreading their teachings among monastics and laity. It will start with Gui Bohua’s (桂伯華 1861-1915) turn to Esoteric Buddhism to deal with the death of his family and then consider a series of monks and laypersons who sought ought initiation at the Shingon headquarters of Koyasan 高野山. These Buddhists sought not only to study a lost part of Chinese Buddhism but also to develop a potential alternative to western modernity. They spread Esoteric Buddhism throughout the Chinese Buddhist landscape while simultaneously improving Sino-Japanese relations during the spread of Japanese colonies throughout the Sinosphere. Finally, a case study of Taixu’s 太虚 Wuchang Buddhist Studies Academy *foxueyuan* 武昌佛学院 highlights its lay community’s shift from academic to Esoteric Buddhism.
This paper discusses the complex cultural and intellectual situation in the early phases of Japanese modernization by studying certain occult metahistorical tendencies that developed at the time, with special attention to interactions with similar tendencies from the West. In particular, I address a metahistorical discourse about the alleged relationships between Japan and the Jews, based on the concept of ultra-ancient history (chōkodaishi) that flourished from around 1930 to 1945 and is still partially influential today. As a window into occult metahistory, I will especially explore texts by Ogasawara Kōji (1903-1982). It appears that there existed a sort of “Dark Side” of Japanese modernization, deeply influenced by spiritualism, occultism, and theosophy imported from the West, which produced alternative discourses about Japanese identity and nationalism based on discredited Western ideas combined with creative interpretations of Japanese cultural texts.
The evangelistic efforts of American evangelist Billy Graham in Japan were met with enthusiasm by Japanese Christians. Despite the small Christian population in Japan, Graham's crusades may have been viewed as a proxy for the U.S. in the context of the Cold War. In 1956, Graham visited Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, who was also a Christian. The significance of this meeting is particularly noteworthy within the context of the postwar U.S.-Japan alliance. This paper aims to analyze how Japan responded to Graham's crusade by examining articles about his visit to Japan from non-religious newspapers. Through this analysis, the study seeks to determine how Japanese non-religious newspapers, and by extension, Japanese society, viewed Graham and his message. This research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between U.S. diplomacy and politics in Asia, as well as the role of American evangelism during the Cold War.