Daiei Kaneko Archives – Higashi Honganji USA

November 3, 2025August 1, 2026

Kaneko: Can we “study” Shin Buddhism?

By Rev. Ken Yamada

Serious seekers “study” Buddhism, but can we really “learn” Jōdo Shinshū? What, how, and why do we study?

Buddhist thinker and Ōtani University professor Kaneko Daiei (1881-1976) pondered such questions in a 1966 essay, “Prolegomena to Shin Buddhist Studies,” reckoning on academia’s purpose ( Robert F. Rhodes translation in Cultivating Spirituality, A Modern Shin Buddhist Anthology). He begins by stating:

Shin Buddhism teaches us to go to the Pure Land by saying the nenbutsu. That’s all. Since that’s all there is to the teaching of Shin Buddhism, is there any need to study it academically? Continue reading “Kaneko: Can we “study” Shin Buddhism?”

October 18, 2024August 1, 2026

Kaneko’s Pure Land: A Case of Heresy

By Rev. Ken Yamada

Jodo Shinshu Buddhism teaches birth in the Pure Land. But what exactly is the Pure Land?

Disagreements abound—a heaven-like place where you go after death; a higher realm of consciousness; spiritual understanding in this life.

That debate reached a fevered pitch in 1920s Japan with priests, intellectuals, journalists, and laypeople weighing in. The most infamous perhaps was Shin scholar Kaneko Daiei (1881-1976), who asserted the Pure Land wasn’t a place, but rather an “idea.”

A firestorm of criticism ensued as scholars, priests, and laypeople holding more orthodox views lashed out. Buddhist sect authorities quickly hurled accusations of heresy. Blowback followed as students protested, academic staff resigned and others were fired. Threatened with excommunication, Kaneko was forced to resign his teaching post at Higashi Honganji’s Ōtani University. Continue reading “Kaneko’s Pure Land: A Case of Heresy”

March 11, 2024August 1, 2026

Amida, Save Me!

By Rev. Ken Yamada

Jodo Shinshu uses words such as “salvation” and “save” which make me uneasy. They give Pure Land Buddhism the appearance of a Christian-like religion with Amida Buddha as savior.

Yet, Jodo Shinshu’s founder Shinran Shonin used these terms. In the Tannisho, he says:

As for me, I simply accept and entrust myself to what my revered teacher told me, “Just say the nembutsu and be saved by Amida”; nothing else is involved.

Continue reading “Amida, Save Me!”

October 7, 2022August 1, 2026

Where exactly is the Pure Land?

By Rev. Ken Yamada

When temple visitors ask, “Where’s the Pure Land,” I usually say, it’s in “a state of mind.” Is that correct? Many people thought differently, and some were persecuted for their views.

Even today, some Jodo Shinshu followers think when they die, they’ll go to the Pure Land, comforted by the thought of reuniting with deceased loved ones. For hundreds of years in Japan, such beliefs were common.

Nowadays it’s absurd to think the Pure Land exists as a real place. There’s no proof and it’s never been scientifically verified. But just 150 years ago, a debate erupted over the Pure Land’s actual existence. Continue reading “Where exactly is the Pure Land?”

January 20, 2022August 1, 2026

Seishinshugi: Shinshu’s Clash with the Modern World

By Rev. Ken Yamada

Today, government mandates clash with personal rights; an unprecedented rise in wealth clashes with unrelenting poverty; political upheaval, military expansionism, and redefined social mores and identity abound. In these changing times, we must ask, “Is Jodo Shinshu Buddhism relevant?”

These challenges confront us now, but they also confronted a small group of innovative Buddhist thinkers a century ago, spurring them to redefine, modernize and find meaning in Jodo Shinshu, which for the previous two centuries had stagnated and grown moribund. For their contributions, they were persecuted, some even excommunicated by their own denomination. Their writings continue to be studied, debated, and valued in understanding Shinshu today. Continue reading “Seishinshugi: Shinshu’s Clash with the Modern World”