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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle
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Zen Terror in Prewar Japan - Portrait of an Assassin (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R898
Discovery Miles 8 980
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Zen Terror in Prewar Japan - Portrait of an Assassin (Hardcover)
Series: Asian Voices
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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Can Buddhism, widely regarded as a religion of peace, also
contribute to acts of terrorism? Through an insider’s view of
right-wing ultranationalism in prewar Japan, this powerful book
follows a band of Zen Buddhist–trained adherents who ardently
believed so. Brian Victoria, himself a Zen priest, tells the story
of a group of terrorists who were responsible for the assassination
of three leading political and economic figures in 1932 and 1933.
Victoria provides a detailed introduction to the religious as well
as political significance of the group’s terrorist beliefs and
acts, focusing especially on the life and times of the band’s
leader, Inoue Nisshō. A deeply troubled youth, Inoue became a spy
in Manchuria for the Japanese Army in 1909, where he encountered
Zen for the first time. When he returned to Japan in 1921, he
determined to resolve his deep spiritual discontent through
meditation practice, which culminated in an enlightenment
experience that resolved his long-term doubts. After engaging in
“post-enlightenment training” under the guidance of Rinzai Zen
master Yamamoto Gempō, Inoue began a program of training the
“patriotic youth” who formed the nucleus of his terrorist band.
After the assassinations, Inoue and his band were sentenced to life
imprisonment, only to be released just a few years later in 1940.
Almost unbelievably, Inoue then became the live-in confidant of
Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, a position he held through the end
of WWII. In the postwar era, Inoue reinvented himself again as the
founder and head of yet another band of ultranationalists known as
the “National Protection Corps.” His eventful life came to an
end in 1967. Victoria concludes with an assessment of the profound
impact of the assassinations, which culminated in Japan’s
transformation into a totalitarian state and set the stage for
Pearl Harbor. The author also examines the connection of Buddhism
to terrorism more broadly, considering the implications for
today’s Islamic-related terrorism.
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