The modern Buddhist studies of Zen priests at Tokyo Imperial University: considering perspectives on original Buddhism

ABSTRACT While the study of Buddhism at universities in Japan since the Meiji period (1868–1912)—transplanted as a modern institution—produced many results using a critical and rational approach to Buddhist texts, many scholars of Buddhism, who were also Buddhists, were challenged to reconcile their own belief systems with those of Japanese Buddhism, which existed outside of the texts. In this context, Taiken Kimura 木村泰賢 and Hakuju Ui 宇井伯寿, both professors at Tokyo Imperial University, attempted to bridge the gap between primitive Buddhist studies and beliefs, or between objectivity and subjectivity, using the concepts of bodhisattva way 菩薩道 and a Zen tradition beyond the written words of scripture 教外別伝 as a framework for Buddhist studies, respectively. Therefore, although their research was always in consideration of its academic significance and did not directly link their belief and scholarship, they can be placed in the history of Buddhist thought.