A Brief History of the Theosophical Society in Japan in the Interwar Period
The article presents for the first time a brief, yet still quite detailed, history of the Theosophical Society (TS) in Japan based on research of primary sources, mainly in the headquarters of the Society in Adyar, a suburb of Chennai, India. Three decades after the first contacts mad...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2020]
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| In: |
The journal of CESNUR
Year: 2020, Volume: 4, Issue: 5, Pages: 3-26 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Japan
/ Theosophische Gesellschaft
/ Buddhism
/ History 1920-1937
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| IxTheo Classification: | AZ New religious movements BL Buddhism KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Theosophy
B Theosophical Society B Beatrice Lane Suzuki B Noemi Raymond B Daisetsu T. Suzuki B James H. Cousins B the Mother / Mirra Richard B Theosophy in Japan |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | The article presents for the first time a brief, yet still quite detailed, history of the Theosophical Society (TS) in Japan based on research of primary sources, mainly in the headquarters of the Society in Adyar, a suburb of Chennai, India. Three decades after the first contacts made during the visits by the TS President, Colonel H.S. Olcott (1832-1907), in 1889 and 1891, the first TS lodge in Japan, the Tokyo International Lodge, was established by James Henry Cousins (1873-1956) in 1920. Cousins’ initiative stimulated interest in the TS, and other lodges were established, although the duration of their activities was sometimes quite short: Orpheus and Mahayana launched in 1924, while Miroku (Maitreya) Lodge did the same in 1928. The analysis of the interwar history of the TS in Japan points to two key issues. One is the fact that the TS resonated with those Japanese who were committed to restoring Buddhism for modern Japanese society. Thus, the TS was an interim interest for them rather than something in which they desired permanent membership. Second, the impulse to establish the TS in Japan came from the Adyar headquarters, and the messengers were non-Japanese. This led to a persistent problem: namely a lack of study materials in Japanese language. This issue became the key obstacle in effectively spreading the Theosophical teachings. Only in the postwar period did translation activity come to the fore as key texts were translated into the Japanese language. |
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| ISSN: | 2532-2990 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of CESNUR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.26338/tjoc.2020.4.5.1 |