Engaged Buddhism in Japan Vol. II: A New Socially Engaged Buddhism in the 21st Century Japan - From Intimate Care to Social Ethics
By: Jonathan S. Watts
ISBN 978-1-896559-92-6 / 362 pages / 6.14" x 9.21" / includes bibliography
Out of the distortions of modernity, Volume II offers a series of contemporary case studies of Socially Engaged Buddhist priests (both male and female) who are redefining Japanese Buddhism, and perhaps even Japanese society in the 21st century. Since the Japanese economy began to falter in the 1990s, Buddhist priests have begun to come out of their temples and their once lucrative Funeral Buddhism activities to engage directly in the suffering of the common people. Volume II offers an intimate look into this work in the areas of end-of-life care, suicide prevention, disaster trauma and chaplaincy, poverty and homelessness, anti-nuclear activism and Buddhist development, and peace and social justice. This second volume is the culmination of over fifteen years of participatory research by the International Buddhist Exchange Center (IBEC) of the Kodo Kyodan Buddhist Fellowship in Yokohama.
“This revelatory book sheds a whole new light on Buddhism in Japan, a Buddhism that is socially engaged, brave, and totally surprising. This is a must-read for all of us. The writing is bright and clear; the research deep and thorough; the characters in the book are profoundly memorable.” Roshi Joan Jiko Halifax, founder Upaya Zen Center and Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program
