“We Alone Can Save Japan”: Soka Gakkai’s Wartime Antecedents and Its Postwar Conversion Campaign

IF 0.3 3区 哲学 0 RELIGION
J. Stone
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Between 1945 and 1951, the Nichiren Buddhist lay organization Soka Gakkai, which had disbanded during the Pacific War, regrouped and burgeoned in a massive proselytizing campaign led by its second president, Toda Jōsei. This effort intertwined three aims: to spread faith in the Lotus Sūtra as the basis for Japan’s postwar reconstruction; to establish an ideal government based on Buddhist principles; and to build a national ordination platform as Japan’s sacred center. Driving it was Toda’s conviction, inherited from his teacher, Makiguchi Tsunesaburō, that Japan was suffering a profound malaise and could only be saved by embracing Nichiren’s teaching. That message formed a powerful link between wartime and postwar Soka Gakkai organizations. It drew Makiguchi into conflict with wartime ideology, leading to his arrest; amid postwar hardships, it found eager reception and shaped what would become Japan’s largest religious movement.
“我们可以独自拯救日本”:创价学会的战时前世及其战后转变运动
1945年至1951年间,在太平洋战争期间解散的日本佛教世俗组织Soka Gakkai在其第二任总统Toda Jōsei领导的大规模传教运动中重组并蓬勃发展。这一努力将三个目标交织在一起:传播对作为日本战后重建基础的莲花的信仰;建立一个基于佛教原则的理想政府;并建立一个作为日本神圣中心的国家圣职平台。Toda从他的老师Makiguchi Tsunesabrō那里继承了这一信念,即日本正遭受着严重的不适,只有接受日莲的教导才能拯救日本。这一信息在战时和战后的创价组织之间形成了强有力的联系。这让Makiguchi陷入了与战时意识形态的冲突,导致他被捕;在战后的困难中,它受到了热烈的欢迎,并形成了后来成为日本最大的宗教运动。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
10
审稿时长
8 weeks
期刊介绍: The Japanese Journal of Religious Studies is a peer-reviewed journal registered as an Open Access Journal with all content freely downloadable. The journal began in 1960 as Contemporary Religions in Japan, which was changed to the JJRS in 1974. It has been published by the Nanzan Institute since 1981. The JJRS aims for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of religion in Japan, and submissions are welcomed from scholars in all fields of the humanities and social sciences. To submit a manuscript or inquiry about publishing in our journal, please contact us at the address below.
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