Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / K. Matsuo -- Introduction / K. Matsuo -- 1. Characteristics Of Japanese Buddhism / K. Matsuo -- 2. Ancient Buddhism Official Monks / K. Matsuo -- 3. Official And Reclusive Monks / K. Matsuo -- 4. Medieval Japanese Towns And The Rise Of Kamakura New Buddhism / K. Matsuo -- 5. Fieldwork In Kamakura / K. Matsuo -- 6. Black And White / K. Matsuo -- 7. The Era Of Religious Fund-Raising / K. Matsuo -- 8. The Salvation Of Outcasts / K. Matsuo -- 9. The Salvation Of Women / K. Matsuo -- 10. The Logic Of Funerals / K. Matsuo -- 11. The New Thinking Of Kamakura New Buddhism / K. Matsuo -- 12. The Rise Of Medieval Towns / K. Matsuo -- 13. Buddhism In The Muromachi Era / K. Matsuo -- 14. Buddhists In The Edo Era / K. Matsuo -- 15. Moral Times And Japanese Buddhism / K. Matsuo -- 16. The Shikoku Pilgrimage / K. Matsuo -- Afterword / K. Matsuo -- Bibliography / K. Matsuo -- Index / K. Matsuo -- Plates / K. Matsuo.

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This first major study in English on Japanese Buddhism by one of Japan’s most distinguished scholars in the field of Religious Studies is to be widely welcomed.The main focus of the work is on the tradition of the monk ( o-bo-san ) as the main agent of Buddhism, together with the historical processes by which monks have developed Japanese Buddhism as it appears in the present day.