Carrying Buddha into the Streets: Buddhist Socialist Thought in Modern Japan

Abstract

While individuals and movements openly advocating “Buddhist socialism” only begin to appear in Japan in the first decade of the twentieth century, germs of the idea can be traced back to the writings of a few scholars and social activists of the 1880s. One example of the latter is the Eastern (or Oriental) Socialist Party (Tōyō Shakaitō 東洋社会党), founded by TARUI Tōkichi 樽井藤吉 (1850–1922) in 1882. Though the party was short-lived – setting a dubious precedent for left-wing parties over the next 50 years in being forcibly suppressed by the government within months of its inception – the writings of Tarui and other founding members were, for their day, quite radical, and provide an early example of the tension involved in attempting to transform the world – “make it new!” to use the modernist catchphrase – while remaining true to one’s cultural (and religious) roots. The “draft of the party’s regulations” (J. Tōyō Shakaitō tōsoku sōan 東洋社会党党則草案), written by Tarui, contains 17 articles, along with a number of sub-clauses. Here, we see several of the tensions that would haunt Japanese experiments in progressive and radical Buddhism over the next several decades. First is the natural but difficult attempt to “indigenize” socialism by appealing to traditional Asian concepts and ideas; second is the appeal to the East Asian values of peace and harmony, which was frequently accompanied, among early socialists, with an appeal to the Emperor as benevolent protector of the social welfare of the Japanese people. This essay will explore socialist movements and their connection to Buddhist ideas in modern Japan.