is a private

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

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 is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran (founder) S ...

, or Shin, school of Buddhism.

History

Ōtani University traces its origin to the early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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

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

of Higashi Hongan-ji. The ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

founded Higashi Hongan-ji in 1602 by splitting it from Nishi Hongan-ji to diminish the power of Buddhism's Shin 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 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 ...

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

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

background who studied at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

under the American philosopher Ernest Fenollosa (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 (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

educational system, and was reclassified as a university. Ōtani University Museum opened in 2003.

Notable alumni and faculty

* Kaneko Daiei (1881–1976) * Keido Fukushima * 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 abbo ...

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as Daisetz, was a Japanese essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, and translator. He was an authority on Buddhism, especially Zen and Shin, and was instrumental in spreading interest in these (and in Far Eastern phi ...

(1870–1966) * Volker Zotz

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

History

Notable alumni and faculty

See also

Notes

External links