On Understanding Japanese Religion Joseph M Kitagawa Princeton University Press

On Understanding Japanese Religion by Joseph M. Kitagawa provides a comprehensive exploration of Japan's complex religious landscape, blending indigenous Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Published by Princeton University Press as part of their Limited Paperback Editions (LPE), this scholarly work compiles nineteen influential essays that trace the historical development of these traditions from prehistory to the modern era. Professor Kitagawa, an eminent scholar and former Dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, employs an interdisciplinary approach to depict Japan as a microcosm of the global religious experience. The volume includes sections on the Yin-Yang School and folk religion, as well as an appendix focusing on Buddhism in America. The cover features a detailed mid-fifteenth-century ink illustration from Bukan by Reisai, adding a classic aesthetic to this academic resource.