is a private

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

university in

Kita-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, Kyoto, Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "North Ward." As of 2020, the ward has an estimated population of 117,165 people. Hiragino typefa ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Ōtani University is a coeducation institution with an emphasis on Buddhist studies. A two-year private junior college is associated with the university. The university is associated with the Ōtani School of

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

, or Shin, school of Buddhism.

History

Ōtani University traces its origin to the early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

(1603 – 1868). It was founded in 1655, and served as the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Higashi Hongan-ji , or, ″the Eastern Monastery of the Original Vow″, is one of two dominant sub-sects of Shin Buddhism in Japan and abroad, the other being Nishi Honganji (or, 'The Western Temple of the Original Vow'). It is also the name of the head temple of ...

. The ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

founded Higashi Hongan-ji in 1602 by splitting it from

Nishi Hongan-ji is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the head temple of the sub-sect Honganji-ha. It is one of two Jōdo Shinshū temple complexes in Kyoto, the other being Higashi Hongan-ji, which is the ...

to diminish the power of Buddhism's

Shin Shin may refer to: Biology * The front part of the human leg below the knee * Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates Names * Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: しん), a Japanese ...

sect. The seminary was strengthened and revived in 1755, and developed a broader curriculum throughout the 19th century. The modern university was founded in 1901 as Shinshū University in Tokyo's

Sugamo is a neighborhood in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. It is home to , a shopping street popular among the older generation, earning it the nickname "Granny's Harajuku." It lies at the crossing point of the JR Yamanote Line and National Route 17. Availab ...

neighborhood. Shinshū University was closely associated with

Kiyozawa Manshi was a Japanese Shin Buddhist reformer and priest of samurai background who studied at Tokyo University in Western philosophy under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa.Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben A ...

(1863–1903), a Shin Buddhist reformer from a low-ranking

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

background who studied at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

under the American philosopher

Ernest Fenollosa Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (February 18, 1853 – September 21, 1908) was an American art historian of Japanese art, professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University. An important educator during the modernization of J ...

(1853–1908). Kiyozawa also served as the first dean of the university. In 1904 the university achieved the legal status of ''senmon gakkō'', or

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

. Shinshū University moved from Tokyo to Kyoto in 1911. It had a curriculum of three years of general study, two years of specialized study, and four years of graduate-level study. The university moved to new buildings in the Koyamahigashifusa-chō neighborhood of Kita-ku in 1913, remains at this location. Shinshū attained university status in 1922, and was renamed Ōtani University the same year. Under the Education Law of 1947 Ōtani University transitioned to the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

educational system, and was reclassified as a university.

Ōtani University Museum opened in Kyoto, Japan, in 2003. The Ōtani University collection, which relates in particular to Shin Buddhist culture, includes ten Important Cultural Properties. Among these are the February 1041 ( Chōkyū 2) portion of , the diary of ; t ...

opened in 2003.

Notable alumni and faculty

Kaneko Daiei was a Japanese Shin Buddhist philosopher and priest during the first half of the 20th century, belonging to the Ōtani-ha branch of Shin Buddhism. He was born to the priest of Saiken-ji, a Shin Buddhist temple in Jōetsu, Niigata Prefecture. ...

(1881–1976) *

Keido Fukushima Keidō Fukushima (福島慶道, Rōmaji: Fukushima Keidō, March 1, 1933 – March 1, 2011) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen master, head abbot of Tōfuku-ji (one of the main branches of the Rinzai sect), centered in Kyoto, Japan. Because of opennes ...

* Kenryo Kanamatsu * Soga Ryōjin (1875–1971) *

Zenkei Shibayama , a former Abbot of Nanzen-ji, was a Japanese Rinzai master well known for his commentary on the Mumonkan. One of his better-known students was Keido Fukushima, abbot of Tōfuku-ji. Shibayama also taught at Otani University and was the head abb ...

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

(1870–1966) *

Volker Zotz Volker Helmut Manfred Zotz (born 28 October 1956) is an eminent Austrian philosopher, religious studies scholar, Buddhologist and a prolific author. Early life The Zotz family originated in Tyrol and spread to Germany. Volker Zotz was born in ...

Notes

External links

Otani University Homepage
Buddhist universities and colleges in Japan Private universities and colleges in Japan Ōtani University Kansai Collegiate American Football League {{kyoto-university-stub