Zen at War

Infobox Book
name = Zen At War
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption ="Zen at War" Second edition cover.
author = Brian Daizen Victoria
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States of America
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Zen Buddhism/Japanese history
publisher = Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
pub_date = 1998
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages =
isbn = 074253927X
oclc =66463758
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Zen at War" is a book written by Brian Daizen Victoria, published in 1998. The book gives a critical insight on the history of Zen Buddhism and Japanese militarism from the time of the Meiji Restoration to the Second World War and the post-War period. It describes the influence of state policy on Japanese Buddhism, focusing on Zen but also including other sects. It also describes the influence of Zen philosophy on the Japanese military.

It also contains a chapter on the actions of Japanese Buddhists who opposed the growth of militarism. In 2002, "Zen at War" was followed by "Zen War Stories", further exploring the intimate relationship between Japanese institutional Buddhism and militarism during World War II. Brian Victoria is an American-born Australian anti-war activist who became a priest in the Japanese Soto Zen sect. He was a Senior Lecturer in Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. [cite web|url=http://www.arts.adelaide.edu.au/socialsciences/people/asian/bvictoria.html|title=School of Social Sciences: Dr Brian Victoria |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050615154212/http://arts.adelaide.edu.au/socialsciences/people/asian/bvictoria.html |archivedate=2005-06-15]

Academic Reception

Although nearly all scholars of Buddhism have accepted the broad thrust of Victoria's account in "Zen at War" there have also been a number who, whilst supporting his aims, have criticized his scholarship. In particular they cite his habits of quoting out of context, failing to acknowledge changes in the stances of those he criticizes over the whole course of their lives, and, in his translations, of selecting provocative English equivalent terms over more commonly used neutral ones (see references below).

General Reviews:

* [http://www.buddhistethics.org/5/rambell.htm Review of "Zen at War"] by Fabio Rambelli, in the "Journal of Buddhist Ethics"
* [http://www.bpf.org/tsangha/loy-victoria.html Review of "Zen at War"] by David Loy
*" [http://www.mandala.hr/5/baran.html Zen Holy War?] ", a review by Josh Baran

Critical Responses:

* Bethel, Dayle M. "Two Views of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's Attitude toward Japanese Militarism and Education," The Journal of Oriental Studies (vol. 12, 2003), pp. 208

*Daniel A. Metraux, [http://www.globalbuddhism.org/5/metraux04.htm "A Critical Analysis of Brian Victoria's Perspectives on Modern Japanese Buddhist History"] (Journal of Global Buddhism, ISSN 1527-6457)

*Miyata, Koichi, [http://www.globalbuddhism.org/3/miyata021.htm "Critical Comments on Brian Victoria's 'Engaged Buddhism: A Skeleton in the Closet?'"] Journal of Global Buddhism (vol. 3, 2002), pp. 79-85.

*Sato, Taira, "Suzuki Daisetsu no Makoto (鈴木大拙のまこと)" (Kamakura: Matsugaoka Bunko Foundation, Newsletter no. 21, 2007)

ee also

*Bushido
*Shinbutsu Bunri