BULLETIN

of the Nanzan Institute for Religion & Culture

Number 5

1981

Lectori salutem!

Calendar of Events

Academic Contributions by Institute Members

Contemporary Japanese Spirituality

Jan Swyngedouw

17

Japan and the Pope: The Seamy Side

James W. Heisig

29

Nanzan Symposium III. Absolute Nothingness and God:

The Nishida-Tanabe Tradition and Christianity
Jan Van Bragt

Click on individual items in the Table of

Contents to view or download.

Nagoya, S e p t e m b e r 1, 1 9 8 1

LECTOR1 SALUTEM!

Rul7,eti?l 5 e c h o e s o u r f i f t h y e a r o f e x i s t e n c e . F i v e y e a r s - a
modest
jubilee.
F i v e y e a r s o l d ! An i n f a n t s t i l l , awed by b e i n g a l i v e b u t g e t t i n g
a c e r t a i n h o l d o n t h i n g s a n d a l r e a d y s t a r t i n g t o show t h e f i r s t c o n t o u r s
of a c h a r a c t e r t h a t w i l l t a k e i t i n t o adl~lthood.
I n t h e f o o t s t e p s of i t s p r e d e c e s s o r s , t h i s Bulletin o f f e r s glimpses of
t h e J a p a n e s e r e l i g i o u s s c e n e : t h e r e s u l t s of a r e c e n t s u r v e y on t h e r e l i g i o u s
f e e l i n g s of t h e J a p a n e s e , a n d a s i d e l i g h t o n t h e P o p e ' s v i s i t t o J a p a n .
A l t h o u g h t h e l a t t e r t o p i c may seem s o m e t h i n g o f a f a i t s - d i v e r s , i t r e f l e c t s
some o f t h e u n d e r c u r r e n t s s t i r r i n g i n J a p a n ' s r e l i g i o u s w o r l d . Among t h e
a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e I n s t i t u t e , o u r T h i r d Nanzan Symposium h a s b e e n s i n g l e d
o u t f o r a l o n g e r r e p o r t . S i n c e t h i s e s s a y a i m s a t t h e same t i m e t o i n t r o d u c e
i n t h e s p a c e o f a few p a g e s a n e n t i r e J a p a n e s e s c h o o l of t h o u g h t , s t i l l
r e l a t i v e l y unknown i n t h e W e s t , we b e g y o u r i n d u l g e n c e i f i t p r o v e s somewhat
heavy going.
What marked t h e a c a d e m i c y e a r o f 1 9 8 0 - 1 9 8 1 m o r e t h a n a n y t h i n g , h o w e v e r ,
w a s t h e coming-of-age o f o u r p u b l i c a t i o n s .
The o p e n i n g v o l u m e o f o u r
E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e s e r i e s , Nanzan Studies i n Religion and Culture, saw t h e
l i g h t i n December o f 1 9 8 0 ; Volumes 2 a n d 3 a r e w i t h t h e p u b l i s h e r s a n d
s l a t e d f o r c o m p l e t i o n i n t h e coming w i n t e r a n d s p r i n g ; i n a d d i t i o n , a few
more p r o s p e c t i v e volumes have begun t o t a k e shape.
I n t h e a r e a of Japanese
p u b l i c a t i o n s , t h e f u l l r e p o r t o f o u r l a t e s t Symposium a p p e a r e d i n A p r i l
of t h i s year.
B u t we s r e p a r t i c u l a r l y h a p p y t o a n n o u n c e a s t r o k e of good f o r t u n e
t h a t came o u r way r e c e n t l y .
The I n s t i t u t e h a s f a l l e n h e i r t o t h e Japanese
JournaZ of ReZiyious S t u d i e s , w h o s e e d i t o r s h i p a n d p u b l i c a t i o n we t o o k
o v e r a t t h e s t a r t of t h i s y e a r from t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e f o r t h e
S t u d y of R e l i g i o n s ( b a s e d i n T o k y o ) , w h e r e i t h a d b e e n r e a r e d a n d d e v e l o p e d
i n t o a f i r s t - c l a s s academic j o u r n a l .
I n t h i s m a i l i n g , we a r e s e n d i n g o u t
a l i m i t e d number o f c o m p l i m e n t a r y c o p i e s .
I f you d o n o t f i n d o n e i n y o u r
e n v e l o p e , we s h a l l b e h a p p y t o p o s t you o n e upon r e q u e s t .
As a l w a y s , we c o u n t o n y o u r c o n t i n u e d c o l l a b o r a t i o n .

J a n Van B r a g t
Director

CALENDAR OF EVENTS AT THE INSTITUTE

Academic Year A p r i l 1980

March 1 9 8 1

March 3 1 - A p r i l 2 : The T h i r d Nanzan ( B u d d h i s t - C h r i s t i a n )

Symposium i s h e l d a t

t h e I n s t i t u t e on t h e theme " C h r i s t i a n i t y and t h e Kyoto

School o f P h i l o s o p h y ( N i s h i d a ~ i t a r o ,Tanabe Hajime)
April 1

: Hino Shoun r e c e i v e s a one-year

April 3

: Prof. Dr.

."

renewal of h i s c o n t r a c t a s

a research fellow.
Hans W a l d e n f e l s , Dean of t h e Department of Theology

a t Bonn U n i v e r s i t y , who s t a y e d w i t h u s from March 22,

r e t u r n s t o Germany.
April 4

: P r o f . Graham Howes, D i r e c t o r o f S t u d i e s f o r t h e " R e l i g i o u s

and S o c i a l Change Programme" a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Cambridge,

v i s i t s the Institute.
A p r i l 23

: The s e r i e s o f monthly s e m i n a r s on t h e Amida S u t r a and i t s

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n according t o t h e e s o t e r i c ~ h i n s h ; t r a d i t i o n
( s o d e n ) resumes.
A p r i l 28

: F a t h e r M a t t h i a s Eder SVD, f o u n d e r and e d i t o r of t h e A s i a n

F o l k l o r e S t u d i e s j o u r n a l , p a s s e s away a t a g e 78. F o r t h e
l a s t f o u r y e a r s F r . E d e r had h i s e d i t o r i a l o f f i c e i n o u r
b u i l d i n g and was a " f a t h e r l y p r e s e n c e " i n o u r m i d s t .
A p r i l 30

: The s e r i e s of bi-monthly

dialogue s e s s i o n s w i t h t h e Buddhist

GANKAI group resumes.

May 8

: P r o f . F a u s t o Gomez OP, Dean of t h e Department of Theology

a t t h e S a n t o ~ o m A sU n i v e r s i t y of M a n i l a , v i s i t s t h e I n s t i tute.
May 20

: A c o l l o q u i u m on "The S t r u c t u r e of t h e Mandala i n E s o t e r i c

Buddhism" i s p r e s e n t e d by Miyasaka ~ ; s h o , P r o f e s s o r of
I n d i a n P h i l o s o p h y a t Nagoya S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y .
May 31

: Members of t h e I n s t i t u t e p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e m e e t i n g of t h e

Ecumenical Group f o r t h e S t u d y o f I n t e r f a i t h Dial-ogue

(EGSID) a t S o p h i a U n i v e r s i t y i n Tokyo.
J u n e 11

: R e l i g i o n and N o t h i n g n e s s , a t r a n s l a t i o n of N i s h i t a n i K e i j i ' s

sh;kyo

t o wa n a n i k a , i s a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n i n o u r

E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e monograph 3 e r i e s by t h e U n i v e r s i t y of

California Press.
: A contract

June 14

i s s i g n e d w i t h t h e ~ h u n j ; s h a P u b l i s h i n g Co. o f

Tokyo Eor t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f Symposium 111.

: A colloquium (co-sponsored

October 6

by t h e D e p a r t m e n t of P h i l o s o p h y )

o n "Man, a ~ i a l o g u e " i s p r e s e n t e d by P r o f . H e i n r i c h Rombach

o f Wurzburg U n i v e r s i t y .
O c t o b e r 5-9

: Hava L a z a r u s - Y a f e h ,

P r o f e s s o r of I s l a m i c S t u d i e s a t t h e

Hebrew U n i v e r s i t y o f J e r u s a l e m , a n d h e r two c h i l d r e n v i s i t
US.

October 7

: A c o l l o q u i u r n o n " T h e o r y and P r a c t i c e o f Karma and R e i n c a r -

n a t i o n " i s p r e s e n t e d by P r o f . N a r a Y a s u a k i o f Komazawa
U n i v e r s i t y i n Tokyo.
O c t o b e r 20

: The e d i t i n g o f

October 30

: A c o l l o q u i u m on "The E s s e n c e o f C h r i s t i a n i t y " i s p r e s e n t e d

t h e m a n u s c r i p t s o f Symposium I11 i s com-

p l e t e d and d e l i v e r e d t o t h e p u b l i s h e r .

by ProE. Werner D e t t l o f f , D i r e c t o r o f t h e Grabman I n s t i t u t e o f Medieval P h i l o s o p h y and Theology a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y

o f Munich. P r o f . D e t t l o f f l i v e d w i t h u s a s o u r g u e s t f r o m
O c t o b e r 2 4 t o November 3.
November 2 1

: A c o l l o q u i u m o n "The R e l i g i o u s C o n s c i o u s n e s s of t h e J a p a -

n e s e " i s p r e s e n t e d by Yanagawa K e i i c h i , P r o f e s s o r a t Tokyo

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y and P r e s i d e n t of t h e J a p a n e s e A s s o c i a t i o n
f o r Religious Studies.
December 1 9

: Bulletin

No.4 o f t h e I n s t i t u t e a p p e a r s .

December

: Volume 1 o f "Nanzan S t u d i e s i n R e l i g i o n a n d C u l t u r e , "

Absolute Nothingness: Foundations f o r a Buddhist-Christian

D i a l o g u e by Hans W a l d e n f e l s , i s p u b l i s h e d by t h e P a u l i s t
P r e s s o f New York.
J a n u a r y 2 0 , 1 9 8 1 : The I n s t i t u t e t a k e s o v e r t h e e d i t i n g and p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e
Japanese J o u r n a l of Religious S t u d i e s , h i t h e r t o published
by t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e f o r t h e S t u d y of R e l i g i o n s .
: J a n Swyngedouw l e a v e s f o r M a n i l a , f o r a c o n s u l t a t i o n meet-

Jan.17-Febr.3

i n g on " I n c u l t u r a t i o n " a t t h e E a s t A s i a n P a s t o r a l I n s t i t u t e
(EAPI), and f o r g u e s t l e c t u r e s on S h i n t o and J a p a n e s e rel i g i o s i t y a t t h e M a r y h i l l School of Theology.
Febr.1-March

: J a n Van B r a g t l e a v e s f o r M a n i l a ,

f o r g u e s t l e c t u r e s on

Buddhism a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S a n t o

omi is

and t h e M a r y h i l l

School of Theology.
February 1 0

: J a n Swyngedouw's b o o k , Wa t o bun n o k o z o ( ~ h es t r u c t u r e of

s h a r e d harmony) a p p e a r s .
Febr.11 and
Febr.14-15

: Dr.

F r e d e r i c k F r a n c k o f "Pacem i n T e r r i s " (New York) d i r e c t s

s e m i n a r s on "The Zen of S e e i n g " a t t h e I n s t i t u t e . D r . a n d

C l a s k e F r a n c k w e r e o u r g u e s t s from J a n u a r y 2 1 t o A p r i l 5.
During t h a t t i m e they n o t o n l y completed t h e e d i t i n g of
a new volume f o r Nanzan S t u d i e s (The Buddha E y e ) , b u t
b r o u g h t a t o u c h o f c r e a t i v i t y t o many a r e a s of o u r l i f e ,
i n c l u d i n g t h e i n t e r i o r d e c o r a t i o n of o u r P a u l u s Heim a n d
t h e d o n a t i o n o f a s c u l p t u r e t o t h e I n s t i t u t e ' s f r o n t lawn.
March 20-29

: James H e i s i g

t r a v e l s t o Rome t o t a k e p a r t i n t h e m e e t i n g s

o f a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l m i s s i o l o g i c a l commission on d i s c u s s i n g
modern p r o b l e m s o f m i s s i o n .