Figures and Table xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xix Reference Abbreviations xxi Ministries and Other Government Institutions xxiii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Pre-Meiji Precedents 9 Chapter 3 Jodo Shin Buddhism and the Edo Period Debate over Nikujiki Saitai 36 Chapter 4 The Household Registration System and the Buddhist Clergy 58 Chapter 5 Passage of the Nikujiki Saitai Law: The Clergy and the Formation of Meiji Buddhist Policy 95 Chapter 6 Horses with Horns: The Attack on Nikujiki Saitai 114 Chapter 7 Denominational Resistance and the Modification of Government Policy 148 Chapter 8 Tanaka Chigaku and the Buddhist Clerical Marriage: Toward a Positive Appraisal of Family Life 165 Chapter 9 The Aftermath: From Doctrinal Concern to Practical Problem 189 Chapter 10 Almost Home 228 Glossary 243 Bibliography 254 Index 275
First-rate. Jaffe's research is utterly original; virtually none of the issues covered have been seriously investigated in any other Western-language study, and there are precious few Japanese secondary studies in the area. The book is well organized, well balanced, and a delight to read. -- Robert Sharf, University of Michigan That the male Buddhist clergy in Japan is almost entirely married is an anomaly within Buddhism as a whole. Jaffe's subject is the problem of how this came about. What were the implications for the Buddhist understandings of marriage, sexuality, and reproduction? What accounts for the fact that almost all Buddhist male clergy marry, while virtually no nuns do? What does 'monasticism' mean in modern Japanese Buddhism? These are some of the questions animating Jaffe's study. -- Helen Hardacre, Harvard University
Richard Jaffe, a specialist in Japanese Buddhism, is Assistant Professor of Religion at North Carolina State University.
"Jaffe does a masterful job of weaving together into a compelling narrative his extensive and well-documented historical sources... This is an important contribution to modern Japanese religious history."--Choice "[A] richly detailed and clearly written work... Jaffe provides abundant material for anyone interested in state-religion issues... A must read for anyone interested in Japanese religious history, Buddhism, or Japanese history."--Stephen G. Covell, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies "This work carefully integrates a deep understanding of Buddhist doctrine with historical detail and ethnographic description. On the issue of clerical marriage in Japanese Buddhism, not only is Jaffe's book the only show in town, but it is a show that no one interested in Japanese Buddhism, Meiji history, church-state relations, religious celibacy, modernization, or secularization would want to miss."--John S. LoBreglio, Journal of Asian Studies "One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of Japanese Buddhism involves the marriage of clerics. Buddhists from most other countries consider this a sign of the overall decline of Buddhism in Japan and think that Japanese clerics are simply incapable of controlling their desires... Both sides of this complex issue are presented clearly, and the idea of over-all decline is thoroughly debunked. This cross-disciplinary book is important not only to studies of religion but also to those of anthropology and history."--Sarah Horton, Religious Studies Review "Jaffe's work is beautifully referenced and composed, full of illuminating sidelights and contextual explorations, and displaying powerful detail and tireless pursuit of textual evidence... Jaffe's research performs a quite groundbreaking synthesis in any language."--Galen Amstutz, Journal of Japanese Studies
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