Kasahara Kenju (笠原研寿, 1852–1883) was a Japanese priest and scholar of

Buddhism 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 gra ...

and

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the History of India, history and Culture of India, cultures, Languages of South Asia, languages, and Indian literature, literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a ...

. With

Takakusu Junjiro , who often published as J. Takakusu, was a Japanese academic, an advocate for expanding higher education opportunities, and an internationally known Buddhist scholar.Pāli_Canon.html" ;"title="apanese translation of the Pāli Canon">apanese trans ...

and

Nanjo Bunyu Nanjō Bun'yū (南条文雄) (1 July 1849 – 9 November 1927) was a Buddhist priest and one of the most important modern Japanese scholars of Buddhism. Nanjō was born to the abbot of Seiunji Temple (誓運寺), part of the Shinshu Ōtani-ha ...

, Kasahara was sent to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1876. Nanjo, the son of an abbot in the Ōtani sect of Shin Buddhism, and Kasahara, as a young priest, were selected by the future leader of the group, Ōtani Kōzui, to study Sanskrit and collect Buddhist text in Europe in order to counter the threat of

Christian proselytism A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

. They studied

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

texts at Oxford under the academic guidance of

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

, seeking a more authentic understanding of Buddhist teachings from their original languages. Previously they had only used Chinese texts that were possibly dubious translations. They were the first Japanese scholars to study Buddhism from the perspective of Western "Buddhology". However in 1882, Kasahara was forced to cut short his studies due to a severe and worsening case of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. While returning to Japan from England, he spent three weeks touring Buddhist sites in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(then Ceylon), including the

Temple of the Tooth The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which ho ...

and

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

, the ancient

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

capital. He arrived in Japanese in November 1882 and died less than 12 months later in 1883.

References

1852 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Buddhists Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhists Japanese Buddhists Japanese Buddhist clergy Japanese indologists {{Japan-reli-bio-stub