Jamie Hubbard, Seelye 303 (ext. 3449)

Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:30 and by appointment

Requirements:

Article Reviews: Four short reviews (4-5 pages) that summarize and critically respond to an article related to the material being studied. This will mean reviewing articles that deal with subjects in roughly the following chronological order: pre-Buddhist Japanese religion (due September 29); Nara through Heian (due October 20), Kamakura up to Meiji (due Nov. 12), and contemporary Japan (due Dec. 10). Each review should be approximately 4-5 pages; further instructions will be given in class. Each review will comprise 15% of your final grade. OPTION: Advanced students may choose to write a single research paper (15-20 pages or so) in place of the four reviews; if you wish to discuss this option please see me before September 17th.

Mid-semester exam: 20% of your final grade.

Response papers: One page papers responding to the week's readings; a total of ten response papers are due over the course of the semester; total 10% of your final grade.

Attendance and participation: regular attendance and prepared participation is expected; 10% of your final grade.

Required Texts:

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. University of Hawaii Press.

Kitagawa, Joseph. Religion in Japanese History. Columbia University Press.

Reader, Ian. Religion in Contemporary Japan. University of Hawaii Press.

Recommended Texts:

Rogers, Minor and Ann. Rennyo: The Second Founder of Shin Buddhism. Asian Humanities Press, 1991.

Tyler, Susan. The Cult of Kasuga Seen Through Its Art. Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, Number 8. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan

Sawada, Janine. Confucian Values and Popular Zen. University of Hawai'i Press, 1993.

Goodwin, Janet. Alms and Vagabonds. University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.

I. 9/8 & 9/10
Introduction: the religious landscape of Japan; new religions, new-new religions, and new-new-new religions.
Readings: Reader, Ian, Religion in Contemporary Japan (entire)

II. 9/15 & 9/17
Japan before Buddhism: shamanic voice and sacred charisma
Readings: Kitagawa, Religion in Japanese History, pp. 3-22; Varley, Japanese Culture, ch. 1; Coursepack: From the Country of Eight Islands: Manyo poetry; "Japanese Aesthetics" by Donald Keene.

III. 9/22 & 9/24
Introduction of Buddhism to Japan: the beginnings of Buddhist-Shinto syncretism; clan Buddhism; Shotoku Taishi; Nara Buddhism and the state.
Readings: Kitagawa, pp. 22-45; Varley, ch. 2; Coursepack: Gangoji garan engi; "Religion and the State in Early Japan" by William Deal; "The Seventeen-Article Constitution of Prince Shotoku" from Sources of Japanese Tradition

IV. 9/29 & 10/1
Heian Buddhism: aristocratic Buddhism; esoteric Buddhism; Buddhist-Shinto syncretism; Mahayana ordination.
Readings: Kitagawa, ch. 2; Varley, ch. 3; Coursepack: from The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon, various Heian poetry, Susan Tyler, "Honji-Suijaku Faith" from JJRS, 16/2-3; "Feminine Sensibility in the Heian Era" by Donald Keene; Recommended: Tyler, Susan, The Cult of Kasuga Seen Through Its Art.

V. 10/6 & 10/8
Collapse of Heian: Buddhist military power; mappo thought.
Readings: Kitagawa, 86-109; Varley, ch. 4; Coursepack: Tale of the Heike, Account of My Hut; Saigy''s poetry.

VI. 10/15, 10/20, & 10/22
Challenges to the establishment: Honen, Shinran, and Nichiren
Readings: Kitagawa, 109-122. Coursepack: D. T. Suzuki, "What is Shin Buddhism?"; selections from Shinran's Tannisho (Unno, trans.); "The Ethical Imperative of the 'Good News:' Preaching in the Latter Days of the Dharma" by Jamie Hubbard

VII. 10/27 & 10/29
Rebuilding the tradition; Zen in the Kamakura period; No drama
Readings: Varley, ch. 5; Kitagawa, 122-130; Coursepack: "Myoe's Letter to the Island" by George Tanabe; Griff Foulk, "The Zen Institution in Modern Japan"; Royall Tyler, "`The Path of My Mountain': Buddhism in No"; "Zeami and the art of the No Drama: Imitation, Yugen, and Sublimity" by Makoto Ueda. Recommended: Goodwin, Alms and Vagabonds.

VIII. 11/3 & 11/5
Buddhism and the civil wars; the waning of Buddhist power; the tea ceremony; Haiku; Buddhism during the Tokugawa period.
Readings: Kitagawa, ch. 4; Varley, chs. 6-7; Coursepack: "The Wabi Aesthetic Through the Ages," by Haga Koshiro; Recommended: Rogers, Minor and Ann, Rennyo: The Second Founder of Shin Buddhism.

IX. 11/10 & 11/12
Religion in modern Japan (Meiji through WWII): religion, nationalism & the construction of a cultural religion.
Readings: Kitagawa, Ch. 5; Coursepack: Robert Sharf, "The Zen of Japanese Nationalism"; Suzuki, "The Role of Nature in Zen Buddhism"; Yasunari Kawabata, 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech, "Japan, the Beautiful, and Myself;" Kenzaburo Oe, 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech, "Japan, the Dubious, and Myself"

X. 11/17 & 11/19
Religion and the state after WWII
Readings: Kitagawa, ch. 6; review Reader, Buddhism in Contemporary Japan; Coursepack: "Memorandum on State Shinto," "Directive for the Disestablishment of State Shinto," "Emperor's Imperial Rescript Denying his Divinity," "Constitution of Japan, Articles 20 and 89; K. Peter Takayama, "The Revitalization of Japanese Civil Religion;" Klaus Antoni, "Yasukuni Jinja and Folk Religion;" Anson Shupe, "S'ka Gakkai and the Slippery Slope from Militancy to Accommodation;" Robert Kisala, "Living in a Post-Aum World"

XI. 12/1 & 12/3
The tradition today: fossilization, fracture, and renewal (Shinshå, Nichiren Shoshå, the S'ka Gakkai, and Zen)
Coursepack: Daniel Metraux, "The Dispute between the S'ka Gakkai and the Nichiren Sh'shå Priesthood" in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies; Gerald Cooke, "The Struggle for Reform in 'tani Shin Buddhism;" TBA

XII. 12/8 & 12/10
New religious technologies for a postmodern world
Coursepack: Jamie Hubbard, "New Religions, Embarrassing Superstition, and the Academic Study of Buddhism;" Richard Fox Young, "Magic and Morality in Modern Japanese Exorcistic Technologies;" Robert Kisala, "Aum Alone in Japan: Religious Responses to the Aum Affair;" "Ways of Japanese Thinking" by Graham Parkes.