Zen at War


Zen at War is a book written by Brian Daizen Victoria, first published in 1997. The second edition appeared in 2006.

Contents

The book meticulously documents Zen Buddhism's support of Japanese militarism from the time of the Meiji Restoration through the World War II and the post-War period. It describes the influence of state policy on Buddhism in Japan, and particularly the influence of Zen on the military of the Empire of Japan. A famous quote is from Harada Daiun Sogaku: " march: tramp, tramp, or shoot: bang, bang. This is the manifestation of the highest Wisdom . The unity of Zen and war of which I speak extends to the farthest reaches of the holy war ."
The book also explores the actions of Japanese Buddhists who opposed the growth of militarism.
The 2002 edition of Zen at War was followed by Zen War Stories, which further explores the intimate relationship between Japanese institutional Buddhism and militarism during World War II.

Responses

The book drew a lot of attention, and mixed responses:
Robert Aitken writes:
Ton Lathouwers, Chán-teacher in the Netherlands, in relation to Zen at War mentions Hisamatsu's impossible question, "What will you do when you cannot do anything, when all your best intentions and great endeavour are invested to no avail whatsoever, when all you do is doomed to fail?", relating it to a statement by Takeo Sato:

Apologies

In response to Zen at war Ina Buitendijk started a campaign to receive apologies from leading parties within the Japanese Zen-schools:
Her campaign resulted in responses from Kubota Ji'un, third abbot of the Sanbo Kyodan, Hirata Seiko, and Hosokawa, abbot of Myoshin-ji.
Kubota Ji'un writes:
Hirata Seiki writes:

Criticism

Brian Victoria has also been criticized.
Kemmyō Taira Sato states that Victoria's criticism of D. T. Suzuki is misplaced since he did not support Japanese militarism in his writings:
Victoria himself quotes critical remarks by Suzuki on the war and the support given to it by the Zen-institutions: "hey diligently practiced the art of self-preservation through their narrow-minded focus on 'pacifying and preserving the state'."
Muhō Noelke states that Victoria has mistranslated texts from Kōdō Sawaki.
Robert Aitken writes, "Unlike the other researchers, Victoria writes in a vacuum. He extracts the words and deeds of Japanese Buddhist leaders from their cultural and temporal context, and judges them from a present-day, progressive, Western point of view."

Further studies

The issues of Japanese nationalism, individualism, and the justification of social inequality have been taken up by other authors as well.

Japanese nationalism

In 1995, the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture published Rude Awakenings. Zen, the Kyoto School, and the question of nationalism, which "examines the relationship between Japanese nationalism and intellectuals in the Kyoto school and the world of Zen." It places the development of the Kyoto school, and its alleged support for the Japanese militarism, in the larger context of the Meiji-restoration.
Robert H. Sharf contributed to this volume, as a sequel to his The Zen of Japanese Nationalism, in which he extensively investigates the support of the Zen-institutions for the Imperial State, and the backgrounds of this support.
Nam-lin Hur has described the support of the Sōtō for the occupation of Korea in the beginning of the 20th century.

Individualism

Peek argues that individualism, contrary to popular notions, is inherently supported by Buddhism. This inherent support made it possible to effect a transmission from authoritarian imperialism to democracy:

Social inequality

The Soto-school has taken up the issue of social inequality. According to Bodiford, the Soto-school has insisted that "the types of social discrimination found in Sõtõ rituals and temple
practices" find their origin in "the medieval institutional regulations imposed by the Tokugawa regime, not in the religious attitudes, religious practices, or religious mission of Sõtõ Zen itself". The Soto-school has installed a Human Rights Division, to terminate the regulations which contribute to discriminatory practices.

Enlightenment and authority

Zen at war has contributed to discussions on the meaning of "enlightenment", and the role of Zen-teachers in the emerging western Zen-Buddhism. Bodhin Kholhede, dharma heir of Philip Kapleau, says:
Stuart Lachs has written several essays on this issue, connected to teacher-scandals in western sanghas. The issue has been taken up by others as well.

Author

The author, Brian Victoria, trained at the Sōtō monastery of Eihei-ji and is a fully ordained Sōtō priest. He received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the Department of Religion at Temple University and his M.A. from Sōtō-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, where he also majored in Buddhist Studies.
Victoria has taught Japanese language and culture at the University of Nebraska Omaha, Creighton University, and Bucknell University in the United States and lectured in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Auckland. He was a Senior Lecturer in the Centre in Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. He has also been Yehan Numata Distinguished Visiting Professor, Buddhist Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. From 2005 to 2013, he was a professor of Japanese Studies and director of the Antioch Education Abroad "Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program" at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, OH. Since 2013, he has been a Fellow at Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies.