Rebranding the Buddha
How Buddhism was reimagined in the service of Japanese militarism.
The Essay · BBC Radio 3
April 25, 201813m 49s
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Show Notes
Christopher Harding examines how Buddhism was reimagined in early 20th-century Japan in the service of militarism and nationalism. At risk of terminal decline and blamed for an economic and imaginative stranglehold on the population, its standing was transformed by the former Buddhist priest turned philosopher, Inoue Enryo, who turned "philosophical somersaults to find a basis in Buddhism for war".
Producer: Sheila Cook