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PREFACE

The genesis of Japanese Culture: The Religious and Philosophical Foundations evolved out of many years of classroom instruction designed for international business students in an MBA program at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan. The lectures, entitled “A Brief Journey Through Japanese Cultural History,” attempted to guide the students through the multiple layers of religious and philosphical belief that underlie life in modern-day Japan. Topics included the importance of such historical elements in the development of the Japanese aesthetic and martial arts, the Japanese style of learning, and the traditional values of contemporary Japanese people. The goal was to paint a picture of Japanese culture in “broad strokes” so that participants could better understand the historical complexities of what they were seeing during their stay in Japan. These lectures were then further field tested with both undergraduate and postgraduate Japanese students studying English at an advanced level at The University of Tokyo and Waseda University (earlier unfinished drafts had also been developed at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan). The result of all of these efforts is the present volume.

Japanese Culture: The Religious and Philosophical Foundations begins with two introductory chapters, one investigating the origins of the Japanese, and the other exploring the most important approaches to Japanese cultural history found in current scholarship. A conceptual framework developed by cultural anthropologists to explain Japan’s diverse religious and philosophical traditions, known as the multilayered model, is then introduced. Subsequent chapters examine each of these layers in a timeline stretching from Japan’s ancient past to modern times in the following sequence: Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Confucianism, and Western influences of the modern era.

Each chapter in this volume concludes with extensive endnotes and thought-provoking discussion activities, many of which were created by the students with whom this book was field tested. The chapters are also twinned with illustrated appendices, which provide perspective and depth to the selected themes. A detailed bibliography is included for readers who wish to further explore the book’s topics.

Finally, the author wishes to express his thanks and gratitude to the hundreds of students, both Japanese and non-Japanese, who participated in this project over many years. This book is dedicated to you.

Roger J. Davies, PhD, MBA

Tokyo, Japan