2023.05.17

Ryūkoku University’s Research Center for World Buddhist Cultures, the Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute at Otani University, together with the Centers for Japanese Studies and Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, announce the eleventh in a series of workshops led by Mark Blum, Mitsuya Dake, and Michael Conway devoted to the critical examination of premodern and modern hermeneutics of the Tannishō, a core text of the Shin school of Buddhism, and arguably the most well-read religious text in postwar Japan.

This current workshop will be held from June 9 to 11, 2023, at the Omiya Campus of Ryukoku University in Kyoto.

Attendance at previous workshops is not a requirement for application to this one, but those who will be able to consistently attend through the course of the project will be particularly welcome.

Organized around close readings of the most influential materials produced in early modern and modern Japan, the workshop aims at producing a critical, annotated translation detailing the salient ways in which this text has been both inspirational and controversial, as well as a series of essays analyzing a wide spectrum of voices in Japanese scholarship and preaching that have spoken on this work.

The current workshop will focus on a careful reading of Edo-period commentaries by Enchi (1662), Jukoku (1740), and Jinrei (1801-1808). There will also be presentations related to modern period commentaries, as well as important themes within the Tannishō itself.

Format: The language of instruction will be primarily English with only minimal Japanese spoken as needed, and while the texts will be in primarily in classical Japanese and modern Japanese, with some outside materials in kanbun and English. Separate sessions will be held for each of the four commentaries noted above where translations will be created and revised.

Dates: June 9 to 11, 2023.

Venue: Omiya Campus of Ryukoku University in Kyoto

Cost: There is no participation fee, but in recognition of the distance some will have to travel to attend, a limited number of travel fellowships will be provided to qualified graduate students and early career researchers, based on preparedness, need, and commitment to the project.

Participation Requirements: Although any qualified applicant will be welcome to register, graduate students and early career researchers will be particularly welcome and the only recipients of travel fellowships. Affiliation with one of the three hosting universities is not required. We welcome the participation of graduate students outside of Japan with some reading ability in modern and classical Japanese and familiarity with Buddhist thought and culture, as well as native-speaking Japanese graduate students and non-native-speaking enrollees at Japanese institutions with a scholarly interest in Buddhism. Although we hope students will attend both meetings each year, participation in only one is acceptable.

Application Procedure: One must apply to participate in each workshop that one attends. To apply to register for the current workshop (June 9-11, 2023), send a C.V. and a short letter explaining your qualifications, motivations, and objectives to Mitsuya Dake, (rcwbc.ird(@)gmail.com) by June 4, 2023.

Requests for a travel fellowship should be included in your letter with specifics of where you will be traveling from. Applications for travel fellowships must be submitted by June 4th, 2023.

Applications are by email only.

※ Questions about the content of the workshop should also be directed to the above address.

※ 日本語の案内はここの募集概要よりご確認ください。

• 講演会「龍谷大学真宗学会創立100周年記念連続講演会」第一回「「三願転入」再考」
• 一覧
• 研究セミナー「真宗聖教の文献学的研究」