Publication Type

Book Review

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

6-2012

Abstract

Issei Buddhism in the Americas makes a unique contribution both to Asian and Asian American studies. The authors premise Issei Buddhism in the Americas as a final stage in bukkyo tozen, the eastward-moving transmission of Buddhism from India traditionally thought to have ended in Japan. Their work is thus a contribution to Asian studies, both in terms of how Japan entered a global age and of extending the analysis of a Japanese religious form to the Americas. Following Eiichiro Azuma, the editors and their colleagues demonstrate that Issei Buddhists lived "between two empires," as their experiences of dislocation from Japan and relocation during the American internment transmitted Buddhism farther into the American interior. This volume's particular strength is in the authors' extensive usage of Japanese language sources, a method that transcends the contemporary historiography's over-dependence on Nisei Christian sources. That said, most of the essays also position first-generation Japanese forms of Buddhism in relation to versions of Christianity found in the Americas.

Discipline

Religion

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Journal of Asian American Studies

Volume

15

Issue

2

First Page

235

Last Page

238

ISSN

1097-2129

ISBN

9780252077197

Identifier

10.1353/jaas.2012.0013

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1353/jaas.2012.0013

Included in

Religion Commons

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