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Religion and Psychotherapy in Modern Japan

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Religion and Psychotherapy in Modern Japan Christopher Harding, Iwata Fumiaki, Yoshinaga Shin'ichi, eds.. Religion and Psychotherapy in Modern Japan. Routledge Contemporary Japan Series. New York: Routledge, 2014. xviii + 300 pp. $155.00, cloth, ISBN 978-1-138-77516-9. Reviewed by Adam Valerio Published on H-Buddhism (August, 2015) Commissioned by Erez Joskovich (Department of Philosophy Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Carolyn A. F. Rhys Davids’s Buddhist Psychol‐ concernedly tending to center the conversation in ogy: An Inquiry into the Analysis and Theory of modern Euro-American rather than Asian con‐ Mind in Pali Literature was published in 1914, texts. Exceptions to this propensity are largely with her suggestion of a connection between Bud‐ constrained to portions of edited volumes, such as dhism and psychology dating back to at least Mark Unno’s Buddhism and Psychotherapy 1900.[1] Hara Tanzan, a Japanese Sōtō Zen monk Across Cultures: Essays on Theories and Practices and the frst lecturer on Buddhism at the Univer‐ (2006), Polly Young-Eisendrath and Muramoto sity of Tokyo, began publishing his psycho-physio‐ Shoji’s Awakening and Insight: Zen Buddhism and logical interpretations of Japanese Buddhism as Psychotherapy (2002), and Wen-Shing Tseng, Suk early as 1860 with Shinshiki-ron (On Mind-Con‐ Choo Chang, and Nishizono Masahisa’s Asian Cul‐ sciousness). While the frst extant Japanese term ture and Psychotherapy: Implications for East for psychotherapy (seishin ryōhō)—today refer‐ and West (2005). Japanese scholars have made ring specifically to institutionalized psychothera‐ original contributions to the relatively small body py—would not become common currency among of Asia-centric English-language literature on therapists until the early twentieth century, the Ja‐ Buddhism and psychology, usually as articles or panese dialogue on the relationship between reli‐ book chapters rather than full manuscripts, with gion and psychology, especially in reference to Chikako Ozawa-de Silva’s Psychotherapy and Reli‐ Buddhism, had long been underway. Conversely, gion in Japan: The Japanese Introspection Prac‐ Rhys Davids’s conversation partners would unfor‐ tice of Naikan (2006) prominently resisting that tunately arrive after her time. Nevertheless, the mold. Most works not ftting the typologies above past several decades have produced a litany of are textual-philosophical in nature and appear English-language works exploring the relation‐ generally uninterested in modern Asia-specific in‐ ship between Buddhism and the psy disciplines, quiries. This category seems to more commonly H-Net Reviews apply to works by scholars of Buddhism than his‐ we interpret our personal and collective well-be‐ torians and anthropologists of Japan more broad‐ ing. This counter to universalizing tendencies is ly. There is room, of course, for all of these ap‐ undervalued in the broader Buddhism-psycholo‐ proaches, and Buddhism specialists are currently gy dialogue, and certainly in what we might re‐ underrepresented in the Buddhism-psychology lit‐ gard as “pop literature” on the subject. erature, which for some time has been dominated The emphasis of this volume diverges from by psy discipline specialists both in Japan and the the two most prominent English-language ap‐ West. proaches to dialogue between Buddhism and the In Religion and Psychotherapy in Modern psy disciplines: 1) identifying and critiquing par‐ Japan, Christopher Harding, Iwata Fumiaki, and allels between Buddhist and psy thought (some‐ Yoshinaga Shin’ichi present a welcome addition to times explicitly addressing questions of compati‐ this unfolding discourse. The ffty-fourth volume bility) and 2) exploring ways in which Buddhist in the Routledge Contemporary Japan series, thought and/or practices can aid the psy disci‐ seemingly the frst in the series to take religion as plines. While several exceptions to this trend ex‐ its focus, is overwhelmingly constituted of Japa‐ ist, such as Chikako Ozawa-de Silva’s feldwork- nese scholarship, with the exception of the intro‐ centered illumination of Naikan therapy and duction, conclusion, and frst chapter, all au‐ Michael Radich’s textual-historical How Ajātaśa‐ thored by Harding, its lead editor. Six chapters tru was Reformed: The Domestication of “Ajase” previously published in Japanese as well as sever‐ and Stories in Buddhist History (2011), this vol‐ al original contributions are complemented by il‐ ume by Harding, Iwata, and Yoshinaga is signifi‐ luminating new chapters by both Yoshinaga and cant in the alternative emphasis which it pro‐ Iwata, making for an edited volume that adds vides, the many key areas it excavates, and the much to the relative dearth of Japanese voices in quality with which it executes these features. Its English-language literature on Buddhism and psy‐ chronological presentation is intended to portray chology. Japanese psychotherapeutic and psycho-religious Taking a historical approach as its emphasis, developments as innovations rooted in Japanese Harding maintains in the introduction that “we traditions and changing sociohistorical circum‐ need to highlight the historical contingency of the stance, rather than as “cultural variants” derived religion-psy dialogue to avoid totalizing claims” from Western advancements, a productive goal (p. 3). This focus on situating the religion-psychol‐ which they largely achieve. ogy dialogue within historical contexts—Japan In chapter 1, Harding provides us with his from the late nineteenth century to the present— four-phase view of the general historical trends in allows for many of the chapters to engage with the religion-psychology dialogue in Japan, all of broader discussions within Japanese history and which he sees as having contributed to Japanese anthropology. As Harding notes, Japanese mod‐ views and approaches to mental health today. The ernization was commonly associated with a period 1868-1912 is, not surprisingly, character‐ threat to essential Japanese qualities, thus produc‐ ized by modernization, state-building, and new in‐ ing increased inner turmoil and deviant behav‐ stitutional and intellectual activity, but also cul‐ iors. Such a phenomenon not only ties the devel‐ tural concerns over interpersonal dynamics and opment of the Japanese psy disciplines to the ni‐ religious attention to physical and spiritual heal‐ honjinron—“theories about the Japanese peo‐ ing. Shortly after the end of this period, a shift oc‐ ple”—enterprise, but also demonstrates how polit‐ curred regarding legal responsibility for the men‐ ical, legal, and commercial changes influence how tally ill, moving from the family to medical insti‐ 2 H-Net Reviews tutions. Yet, from 1910 to 1945, mental therapies of the volume, is a substantial contribution in its inspired by new scientific ideas strategically pre‐ own right, especially considering the shortage of sented themselves in language rooted in tradition‐ “big-picture” resources on the topic. al Japanese religious and cultural forms. This in‐ Chapter 2 revisits Harding’s frst period, with cluded the popular psycho-religious composite Hashimoto Akira examining temple and shrine method, Morita therapy. In the context of rising is‐ care for the mentally ill. With the influx of West‐ sues concerning qualifications, legitimacy, and ef‐ ern medical and psychological ideas, religious in‐ ficacy, Harding asserts that religion and psy‐ stitutions looked to the successes of Japanese psy‐ chotherapy were bonded together through the im‐ chiatric researchers. Interestingly, so too did the portance of practitioner personality, practitioner- new psy disciplines look to traditional Japanese client relationships, and a shared culture. After therapies, not only due to widespread cultural the war and through the 1960s, the relationship suspicion toward Western-inspired institutions between religion and psychotherapy in Japan and ideas, but also because some believed that el‐ came to be distinguished by the rejection of much ements of European therapies already existed in of what was associated with its prewar past, cou‐ the practical wisdom of Japanese tradition. pled with a renewed impact of the West. This in‐ Chapter 3 addresses the emergence of an ex‐ cluded a strong influence of American develop‐ plicit religion-psychology dialogue through Yoshi‐ mental psychology, a view of complementarity be‐ naga Shin’ichi’s exploration of the new “mind tween Asian religion and Western psychotherapy cure” methods in the Meiji era. In particular, among both Japanese and Americans (e.g., Karen Yoshinaga connects the formulation of the frst ex‐ Horney, Alan Watts), increased translation of tant Japanese term for psychotherapy (seishin works between Japanese, English, and other Euro‐ ryōhō) to the history of Japanese importation and pean languages, an interest in cultural psychology integration of hypnotism, especially in the writ‐ that coincided with a new willingness to think in ings of hypnotist Kuwabara Toshiro, and the influ‐ terms of universals (e.g., Kawai Hayao, Doi ence of the Zen practices of Hara Tanzan and his Takeo), and a strong push to keep religion out of most famous student, Inoue Enryō. In the contro‐ public life (leading to a highly medicalized psy versial but popular writings of Kuwabara, who community). Not surprisingly, then, despite signif‐ combined Shin Buddhism with Christianity, Yoshi‐ icant Pure Land Buddhist influence, the frst naga sees an influential voice that helped to “re- Naikan center presented itself as secular when it create ‘religion’ using psychological terms” (p. 93). opened
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