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An A+ Academic Journal, February 4, 2007

Twice every year I look forwards to this fine scholarly journal. I’ve been a regular subscriber for some years now, and I have yet to be disappointed by an issue. It inevitably arrives full of carefully researched, well-written, and interesting articles that explore the great varieties of Japanese religion from a great variety of angles–and along the way one will find all kinds of fascinating new details and illuminating perspectives and approaches. Many of the articles in question eventually turn out to have been rather pivotal or at least influential, and it’s not unusual at all to see those that you read here first later being cited in full-scale monographs on Japanese religion, culture, or history. It’s always nice when this happens, of course, but the articles stand on their own in exploring this varied, infinitely complex, and endlessly fascinating phenomenon on a biannual basis. The level is academic and somewhat specialized, so beginners may want to read some introductory texts and familiarize themselves with the field a bit before making use of this journal, but before long I’m pretty sure they’ll find it every bit as useful and enjoyable a resource as I have.

The journal itself is published from Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan. It’s in English, though kanji are given for all important terms and Japanese text often provided for relatively short key quoted passages. The first issue of the year is usually full of miscellaneous articles, while the second one usually has a unifying theme (often with guest editors). For instance, the most recent issues to date contain the following, just to give a concrete idea of the journal’s usual fare:

Volume 33, Number 1 (2006)
1. “Miscellaneous Musings on Mulasarvastivada Monks: The Mulasarvastivada Vinaya Revival in Tokugawa Japan” by Shayne Clarke
2. “Reconfiguring Ritual Authenticity: The Ordination Traditions of Aristocratic Women in Premodern Japan” by Lori R. Meeks
3. “To Ise at All Costs: Religious and Economic Implications of Early Modern Nukemairi” by Laura Nenzi
4. “In the Service of the Kaihogyo Practitioners of Mt. Hiei: The Stopping-Obstacles Confraternity (Sokusho ko) of Kyoto” by Catherine Ludvik
5. “When Buddhism Became a ‘Religion’: Religion and Superstition in the Writings of Inoue Enryo” by Jason Ananda Josephson
Plus twelve book reviews.

Volume 33, Number 2 (2006): Varieties of Pure Land Experience
1. Editor’s Introduction: Pure Lands in Japanese Religion” by Galen Amstutz and Mark L. Blum
2. “Ise Sankei Mandara and the Image of the Pure Land” by Peter Knecht
3. “Entering the Pure Land: Hanamatsuri and the Okagura Jodo-iri Ritual of Okumikawa” by William Lee
4. “Tourists in Paradise: Writing the Pure Land in Medieval Japanese Fiction” by R. Keller Kimbrough
5. “The Phenomenon of Invoking Fudo for Pure Land Rebirth in Image and Text” by Karen Mack
6. “Sanno Miya Mandara: The Iconography of Pure Land on this Earth” by Meri Arichi
7. “Saidaiji Monks and Esoteric Kami Worship at Ise and Miwa” by Anna Andreeva
8. “Kuroda Toshio (1926-1993) on Jodo Shinshu: Problems in Modern Historiography” by Tomoko Yoshida
Plus two book reviews.