Tanaka Chigaku

Tanaka Chigaku, around 1890

Tanaka Chigaku  ( Japanese 田中 智 學 , modern : 田中 智 学 ; * December 14, 1861 ( traditional : Bunkyū 1/11/13) in Edo (now Tokyo ); † November 17, 1939 ) was a Japanese Buddhist activist and nationalist.

Born as Tada Hanosuke ( 多 田 巴 之 助 ) in Edo (today Tokyo ), he entered a Buddhist monastery at the age of 10, but left the monk's class in 1879 and became a lay preacher. In 1880 he founded the Rengekai ( 蓮華 会 , "Society of the Lotus Blossom ") in Yokohama , with the aim of uniting the teachings of the Lotus Sutra with the Kokutai . After his return to Tokyo in 1884/5, the organization changed its name to Risshō Ankokukai ( 立正 安 国会 ). In 1914 the successor organization Kokuchūkai was founded. Also Tsunesaburō Makiguchi , who later became the forerunner of the Soka Gakkai founded and participated in the lectures Tanaka, is said to have been influenced in terms of structure and distribution method involved Kokuchūkai.

As the founder of these organizations, Tanaka is regarded as one of the founders of Nichirenism and thus as a representative of a nationalist interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 田中智 学 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus and 百科 事 典 マ イ ペ デ ィ ア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved January 10, 2014 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ Jacqueline I. Stone: By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, Buddhism in the Modern World . Page 197 ff.

bibliography

• Marchand Louis. Mystique du panjaponisme. Un «Mein Kampf» nippon. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilizations. 1e année, N. 3, 1946. pp. 235-246. (French) [1]
• Tanaka Chigaku: What is Nippon Kokutai? Introduction to Nipponese National Principles. Shishio Bunka, Tokyo 1935-36

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Tanaka is the family name, Chigaku the first name.