This document outlines a research proposal to study how Japanese Buddhism has addressed its role in justifying violence during World War II. The researcher plans to examine texts on Japanese nationalism and Buddhism's involvement in the war. They will conduct surveys of American and Japanese Buddhists, and ethnographic research in Japan, including participating in rituals and interviewing people of different ages and Buddhist leaders. The goal is to understand if the ideology that led to violence still exists, and how Buddhist communities memorialize the war and its victims. The proposal provides a multi-step process over 2 years involving literature review, language learning, data collection, analysis, and writing.

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Thesis Statement
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, many Japanese Buddhists used
nationalism and truth claims to justify the use of violence across Asia; specifically, the
claim that the Japanese emperor was divine. Does this ideology still exist amounts the
Buddhist Communities in Japan today? How does it influence Japanese Buddhist today?
Moreover, how are mainstream Japanese Buddhist leaders dealing with the legacy of the
Second Sino-Japanese War?
Statement of Significance
Brian Victoria States in his book Zen at War that many Japanese Buddhists ignore
the horrors that they helped inflict during the Second Sino-Japanese War. However, more
research is needs to be completed to truly know if this is the case or the opposite is true. It
is already known the justification for violence that Japanese Buddhists used during the
Second Sino-Japanese War. The question that still needs to be answered is as followed,
does this ideology that Japanese Buddhist had during the Second Sino-Japanese War to
justify violence still exist today, and if so, to what extent? How does it influence Japanese
Buddhist in modern day Japan? Likewise, how are mainstream Japanese Buddhist leaders
acting towards the legacy of the Second Sino-Japanese War? Are they remorseful, or do
they show and/or act unapologetic towards the victims of the war? This is important,
especially for the religious studies field for this project may shed some light on not only
the way that Japanese Buddhist think and are influenced today by their violent past, but
the way that Buddhist leaders in Japan deal with this violent past.
Procedure
When one undertakes a research of this magnitude, one has to start by reading
relevant texts. For this project it will be crucial to gain a further understanding of the
roles that the Japanese Buddhists played during the Second Sino-War, in particular, the
violence that they helped inflict, and most importantly, the amount of remorse for those
actions. To do this, I must use philology to study the past though written texts, that is,
translations of texts and originals. After this, it will be prudent to use both quantitative
and qualitative research. First, using quantitative research, the aim is to visit Buddhist
institutions in the U.S. to both broaden my understanding of Buddhism and how
American Buddhists view this topic. Yet, it would be greatly important to question some
Japanese Buddhists in America as well. A few examples of places that I could do this
would be various Jodo-shu and Zen schools. There, I will have to build a rapport with the
people by conducting general conversation with the Buddhists before asking questions
like “Do you think that Japanese Buddhism is the highest form of Buddhism?” and “Is
violence sometimes necessary? “ When is violence necessary? Next, it will be imperative
to use ethnography, particularly by visiting Japan and studying Buddhist practices
through active participation. This will also allow me to gain a relationship with the
Buddhist in Japan. Once a relationship is built, I will ask similar questions with the
inclusion of questions like “Is the emperor divine?” and “ What is your thoughts on the
Second Sino-Japanese War?” These questions will be asked randomly to four groups to
see the difference in thinking across generations, the elderly (60 and over), the middle
aged (30-60), young adults (21-30), and the adolescence (16-21). The data from these

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questions will be imputed using Excel and analyzed to find specific questions that can be
asked during the qualitative process of this research project.
Next, I will ask Buddhist leaders in Japan specific questions depending on prior
data that I collected through my quantitative findings. However, before I can do this, I
need to build similar relations with the leaders of the Buddhist communities. To do this, I
will further actively participation in Buddhist rituals and activities while also asking
question, for instance “What does Japan mean to you?” and “What does Japanese
Buddhism mean to you?” These simple but informative questions will allow me to
follow-up with questions like “Do you think that Japanese Buddhism is the highest form
of Buddhism?” “Is violence sometimes necessary? “ When is violence necessary?” As I
progress through these questions, hopefully, they will prove to be more controversial and
allow me to truly find answers. To do this, I will ask further questions, for instance “How
do you memorialize the Japanese solders that died during The Second Sino-Japanese
War? Most importantly, “Do you also memorialize the victims of the war? How?”
“Similarly, do you agree with the emperor in his remorse of the horrors that the Japanese
committed during the War?”
Using past texts both translations of the texts and the originals, using both
quantitative research and qualitative research, while also actively participating with
Buddhists will allow me, as the researcher, to not only complete this project, but also find
answers. These answers will ether prove that the ideology that led Japanese Buddhists to
violent acts during the Second Sino-Japanese War still exist in modern day Japan or
disprove this notion. Besides this, the influence that the past violence has on modern day
Japanese Buddhists and the extent in which the Japanese Buddhist are remorseful or the
lack of remorse towards the victims of the Second Sino-Japanese War will be evident due
to this project.
Project Outline
First Step (four month)
 Read relevant texts in English including Buddhist texts, texts about the Second
Sino-Japanese War, books about Japanese nationalism prior to the war and during
the war, plus Japanese nationalism after the war.
 I will also read about Japanese Buddhists justification for violence during the
War, what specific roles did they play during the war.
 Read about how this justification may have shifted after the war.
 How are Japanese Buddhists, particularly the leaders dealing with the legacy of
the Second Sino-Japanese War?
Second Step (four month)
 Learn Japanese and read similar texts in Japanese to get a more accurate
representation about this topic.
Third Step (three Months)
 Create surveys and other forms of quantitative research
 Find and visit Buddhist Institutions in the US to conduct quantitative research
Forth Step (One Month, depending of the amount of data)
 Impute data on Excel spreadsheet
Fifth Step (six Month)
 Travel to Japan and find Buddhist communities and temples.

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 Conduct quantitative research to gain an overall understanding of the Japanese
involvement in the war, the justification that they had to commit violent acts, and
the way that the Japanese Buddhists deal with the past war, do they ignore the fact
that they helped in the violence towards other nations, or are they remorseful.
 I will then add this to my findings in my Excel sheet.
Sixth Step (Six Months)
 Pinpoint the best locations to ask Buddhists questions that are more specific about
the Japanese Buddhist involvement in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
 Next, I will actively participate in the Buddhists event and/or temples to gain a
rapport with the Buddhists, specifically with the leaders.
 Then I will conduct qualitative research by ask the Japanese Buddhist leaders
more specific questions that will be taken from the findings that I previously
gained through texts, quantitative research, and my active participation.
Seventh Step (three Months)
 Go back to the U.S. and analyze my findings
 Write the manuscript of my research and the results that I find

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References
Primary Sources
Asahi Shimbun. (2007). Sensō: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War : Letters to the
Editor of Asahi Shimbun. (B. Cary, Trans.) Armonk, New York: Pacific Basin
Institute and M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
Bhikkhu, A. (Ed.). (2010). A colllections of Buddhist Wisdom Verses. (A. Bhikkhu,
Trans.)
The Khuddakapatha. (1994). (T. Bhikkhu, Trans. pp. 1-9).
Yamada, A. (1996). Rekishi Hyoron. JIYU SHUGI SHIKAN" NI OKERU "KOKKA
SENRAKU TO SENSO" NINSHIKI NO MONDAITEN. (Japanese). , 9, 55.
Secondary Sources
Bodhi, B. (1994). Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts. Retrieved from Access to
Insight.
Conze, E. (1993). The Way of Wisdom, The Five Spiritual Faculties . Retrieved from
Access to Insight.
Dong, Z. (2014). Buddhism, Nationalism and War: A Comparative Evaluation of Chinese
and Japanese Buddhists' Reactions to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-
1945). International Journal of Social Science and Humanity.
Fumihiko, S. (2010). Chinese Buddhism and the Anti-Japan War. Japanese Journal of
Religious Studies .
Victoria, B. D. (2006). Zen at War. Lanham, Maryland, United States of America:
Littlefield Publishers.
Yu, X. (2005). Buddhism, War, and Nationalism. New York, Abingdon, New York,
Oxon, United States of America, Great Briton : Routledge.