Studies and classics of Japanese religion, thought, and culture.
Pages
Bushido — The Soul of Japan — Inazo Nitobe — Inazo Nitobe's 1905 exposition of Bushido, the ethical code of the samurai, tracing its sources in Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism for a Western readership.
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields — Lafcadio Hearn — Lafcadio Hearn's 1897 essays on Japanese Buddhism, folk religion, and popular art, from a living god's monologue to Buddhist allusions in folk-song and a study of Nirvana.
Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation — Lafcadio Hearn — Lafcadio Hearn's 1904 synthesis of Japanese religious and social history, tracing Shinto ancestor-worship through its encounter with Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity.
The Book of Tea — Kakuzo Okakura — Kakuzo Okakura's 1906 essay on Japanese Teaism, tracing tea's history through Taoism and Zen to the aesthetics of the tea-room, flowers, and the tea-masters.
The Religions of Japan — William Elliot Griffis — William Elliot Griffis's complete 1895 Morse Lectures on Shinto, Confucianism, Japanese Buddhism, Christianity, and religious change in Japan.
The Shinto Cult — Milton Spenser Terry — Milton Spenser Terry's complete 1910 Christian study of Shinto sources, mythology, sanctuaries, ritual, ancestor worship, and modern religious change.