Research Explorer

Project

Rethinking the relationship between state and religion: the role of Japanese Buddhism in the early stages of Japan’s modernisation (1870s-1880s)
Code
3E006915
Duration
01 October 2015 → 13 February 2022
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Humanities and the arts
    • Asian history
    • Modern and contemporary history
    • History of ideas
    • History of religions, churches and theology
    • Study of Buddhism
Keywords
Buddhism the Englightenment history of Japan-Europe relations Meiji japan religious freedom secularisation publishing and society modernisation 19th century separation of religion and state
 
Project description
 

This research project focuses on the role of Buddhist thinkers in the intellectuel movement known as the Japanese Enlightenment. It follows them on their journeys through Europe and analyses their contributions to Japanese Buddhist and secular journals and newspapers after their return to Japan. More generally the project looks at the impact of religion on the modernising processes of nations.