Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

The twenty-first annual meeting of the Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies was held from July 24 to 26, 2002 at the Palace Side Hotel in Kyoto. The theme for the year was "The Body and Religion."

Yoritomi Motohiro delivered a paper on "The Shingon View of the Body," with a response by Keta Masako. Kosaka Kunutsugu's paper on "The Question of the Body in Nishida" was responded to by Tsuruoka Yoshio. Finally, Yagi Seiichi spoke on "The Body as a Locus of 'Oneness': Towards a Symbolic Representation of Basho Theory," with a response by James Heisig. As is the custom of the Society, lengthy discussions followed the papers.

The interest generated by the topic was considerable, and it was decided to continue with it for at least one more year.

In the past, the papers and discussions of the annual meetings have been published in the pages of Daijo Zen. This year the Society launched the publication of its own journal, Kenkyujo Shoho (Journal of the Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies). The inaugural issue includes the papers from the 2001 meeting on "Nature." This journal is available from the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, and may be downloaded for free from the Internet. Go to <www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/> and follow the links under "Publications." The site also contains other information related to the Society and its past annual meetings.