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Links - Japanese Buddhism General
Internet Guide to Buddhism and Buddhist Studies
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, pub. by Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University. Various articles about Buddhism on line.
Links - Denominations - Tendai
Website of Enryakuji also has English information about Tendai Buddhism.
Links - Denominations - Shingon
Buzan School of Shingon Buddhism. English pages.
Koyasan School of Shingon Buddhism. Only J.
Chisan School of Shingon Buddhism. Only J.
Shingon Buddhist International Institute.
Links - Denominations - Jodoshu
The official website of the Jodo denomination has a lot of information in English as well.
Links - Denominations - Jodo Shinshu
Website of Nishi Honganji (also English section about Shinshu Buddhism)
Homepage of Richard St. Clair with many interesting Shin Buddhist links. Also contains links to the Three Pure Land Sutras.
Shin Dharma Net is a website by Dr. Alfred Bloom, who also has written many books to make Shin Buddhism accessible. The site contains a "Shin Course."
Links - Denominations - Zen
Soto Zen Net, International Soto Zen links.
Links - Denominations - Nichiren-shu / Lotus sect
Nichiren Shu, Nichiren Buddhist Home Page.
Nichiren Shoshu website.
Soka Gakkai International USA (Nichiren lay Buddhist organization).
Links - Pilgrimages
Echoes of Incense, A Pilgrimage in Japan (the Shikoku Pilgrimage) by Don Weiss.
Japanese site about the Shikoku Pilgrimage
A Guide to Kamakura is an excellent private website about temples in Kamakura and neighboring areas. Very well researched.
Links - Art
A to Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Statuary by Mark Schumacher.
Links - Scriptures and writings
The Heart Sutra (Hannyashingyo)
Lotus sutra on the web: in a translation by H. Kern (1884) in the Internet Sacred Text Archive.
Major writings of Honen
The writings of Shinran have been translated into English and are available on a site sponsored by Nishi Honganji.
The Tannisho, written by a disciple of Shinran, is another Shin Buddhist classic and is available on the Living Dharma Website in a translation by Dr. Taitetsu Unno.
The Letters of Rennyo, the restorer of the sect, are available on the Shin Buddhist Resource Center.
Major writings of Nichiren.
Library - Japanese Buddhism General
Buddha by Karen Armstrong is one of the best modern biographies of Gautama Siddharta.
Buddhistische Tempelnamen in Japan by Dietrich Seckel (Franz Steiner Verlag, 1985).
Japanese temple names, categorized and discussed. Useful, a nice book to leaf through, but a bit rambling; a conclusion binding everything together would have been suitable.
Japanese Mandalas by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis (University of Hawai'i Press, 1999) is a pioneering study about the use of mandalas in various Japanese religious traditions.
Jewel in the Ashes by Brian D. Rupert (Harvard University Asia Center, 2000) is a formidable study about the political use of Buddha relics by esoteric temples including Toji in early Medieval Japan.
Kuan-yin by Chun-Fang Yu is a study of the way in which Avalokiteshvara was in China transformed into a female Bodhisattva (Columbia, 2001)
Library - Denominations
The Buddhist Teaching of Totality by Garma C.C. Chang is a discussion of Hwa Yen (Kegon) philosophy (Pennsylvania State University, 1991).
About Saicho, his thought and the founding of Enryakuji, see Saicho: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai school by Paul Groner (University of Hawai'i Press, 2000).
Also by Paul Groner is Ryogen and Mount Hiei (University of Hawai'i Press, 2002) about the 10th century monk who transformed the Tendai school into a politically important Church.
The Weaving of Mantra by Ryuichi Abe (Columbia University Press, 1999) is the latest scholarship on Kukai and his thought.
Shingon by Taiko Yamasaki (Shambala, 1988) delves into the esoteric mysteries of Shingon rites.
Myoe, the Dreamkeeper by George J. Tanabe is an excellent study of the life and thought of Myo-e and his place in early Kamakura Buddhism (Harvard, 1992). It also contains a translation of the Dream Diary.
Renegade Monk, Honen and Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, by Machida Soho is a provocative study of Honen as a person and his thought (University of California Press, 1999)
An excellent study of Shinshu Buddhism, its history and ideas from Shinran to Rennyo, is Jodo Shinshu by James C. Dobbins (Indiana University Press, 1989).
An interesting essay on Rennyo is "Rennyo and the Shinshu Revival" by Stanley Weinstein in Hall/Takeshi, Japan in the Muromachi Age (University of California Press, 1977)
D.T. Suzuki is famous for his many books on Zen, but he also wrote Buddha of Infinite Light to propagate Shin Buddhism in the West (reprint Random House, 2002).
Tariki, Embracing despair, Discovering Peace is a discussion of the power of tariki in contemporary life by a modern novelist, Itsuki Hiroyuki (Kodansha, 2001).
A Study of Dogen by Masao Abe, Ed. by Steven Heine (State University of New York Press, 1992);
Shobogenzo, Zen Essays by Dogen, translated by Thomas Cleary (University of Hawaii Press, 1986);
A Primer of Soto Zen, a translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki by Reiho Masunaga (University of Hawaii Press, 1971);
Dogen Studies by William R. LaFleur (University of Hawaii Press).
Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of Eihei Shingi by Taigen Daniel Leighton (Translator) and Shohaku Okumura (Translator) gives the rules Dogen established for monk's life in Eiheiji (State Univ. of New York Press, 1996).
The classical study of Soto Zen is Soto Zen in Medieval Japan by William M. Bodiford and on Soto Zen (University of Hawaii Press, 1993).
Library - Pilgrimages
Meisatsu 108 no Tabi, edited by Hiro Sachiya (Yomiuri Shinbunsha, 1990).
The book that gave me the idea for my own pilgrimage. The articles on the temples are rather short and seem to have been written as a series in a newspaper. Hiro Sachiya is a popular writer about Buddhism, but seems to have been only slightly involved in the actual writing. Perhaps he made the selection of temples.
A Pilgrim's Guide to Forty-Six Temples by Shiro Usui (Weatherhill, 1990).
Meditations on 46 temples mainly in Kyoto and Nara. Deftly picks out the spiritual characteristics of each temple.
Kyoto, a Contemplative Guide, by Gouverneur Mosher (Tuttle, reprint 1982).
The book that introduced me to Kyoto's temples. It still remains a classic on Kyoto and has not been surpassed.
Tokyo Now and Then, An Explorer's Guide, by Paul Waley (Weatherhill, 1984).
Superb historical guide to Tokyo, fascinatingly written. Seems unfortunately out of print.
Kamakura, Fact and Legend, by Iso Mutsu (Tuttle, 1995; original edition 1918)
Glowingly poetical descriptions of Kamakura's temples by an Englishwoman who married a Japanese count and settled in the city.
Exploring Kamakura, A Guide for the Curious Traveler, by Michael Cooper (Weatherhill, 1979).
The best guide to Kamakura - does on a smaller scale what Paul Waley has done about Tokyo. Has been reprinted several times.
The Traveler's Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages, by Ed Readicker-Henderson (Weatherhill, 1995).
Useful introduction to the Saigoku Kannon Route and the Shikoku Kobo Daishi Route.
Exploring Kanto, Weekend Pilgrimages from Tokyo by Michael Plastow (Weatherhill, 1996).
The Bando pilgrimage, combined with hiking suggestions.
Chichibu, Japan's Hidden Treasure, by Sumiko Enbutsu (Tuttle 1990).
Guide to the Chichibu Kannon Pilgrimage as well as an introduction to that fascinating region.
Library - Scriptures
The Lotus Sutra, the most important scripture of Japanese Buddhism, has been translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University press, 1994).
The massive Avatamsaka Sutra, the central scripture of Kegon Buddhism, has been translated by Thomas Cleary as The Flower Ornament Scripture (Shambala, 1993).
Kukai and his Major Works by Yoshito Hakeda (Columbia University Press) makes it possible to taste some of the works Kukai wrote himself.
Honen's Senchakushu, Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow is a translation of Honen's major work (University of Hawai'i Press, 1998).
Library - Buddhist Art
Classic Buddhist Sculpture, The Tempyo Period, by Jiro Sugiyama (Kodansha 1982).
A classic itself.
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