Otani University

Research Branding Project for Private Universities
Progress Report for the 2017 Academic Year
Number of261009
EducationalCorporation
Name of University Otani University
Title of Project
Application Type

Name ofEducationalCorporation

Shinshū Otani Gakuen

Creation of an International Buddhist Research Network and the Promotion of“Human Studies” based on Buddhism
Type B

Grant Period

Five YearsStudent Capacity

2995 students

Participating
Organization

Faculty of Letters,Graduate School of Letters,Shin Buddhist Comprehensive
Research Institute,Livrary,Museum,The Eastern Buddhist Society

Project Outline

The excessive rationalization of modern society has resulted in the “sense of
meaninglessness.” Critical attempts to reexamine the early modern and modernages have already been made. However, it is becoming increasingly urgent to findsolutions to fundamental problems concerning the environment, human rights andbioethics. Buddhism has the potential to provide solutions to these importantproblems. In this project, we will create an international research center based on
Buddhism and promote “human studies” unique to our university. We will unfold astrategic branding project for making the world recognize once again theimportance of Buddhist studies.
About a hundred years ago, Max Weber made the important point that theincreasing rationalization of modern society will bring about the “sense ofmeaninglessness.” Subsequently, especially after the two world wars, various
attempts have been made to reexamine modernity critically. But as if to mock suchattempts at reexamination, the secularization of modern industrial society isproceeding at a greater pace and people are increasingly caught up in theglobalized market economy. Under such circumstances, the problems of the “senseof meaninglessness” such as ecology, human rights and bioethics are becoming
even more severe. Moreover, the market principle has pervaded the academic
world of the universities. As a result, research that are believed to “contribute” tosociety in concrete ways, such as the applied sciences, have come to beoveremphasized while research in the humanities and theoretical sciences havebeen curtailed. However, at present, when people are faced with the fundamental
problem of the “sense of meaninglessness” and the need to overcome it is extremely
urgent, the humanities, and Buddhist studies in particular, have become
increasingly important, as it has the potential to provide answers to theseproblems.

① Aim of the project

Therefore, our university has made the following four points the central pillars ofits branding project. First, we will create the foundation for engaging in researchfrom an international perspective on the basis of the knowledge of Buddhism wehave accumulated in the past. Second, we will conduct joint research with scholars
from America, Europe and Asia. Third, we will promote academic exchange amongscholars and students. Fourth, we will make Buddhism, the intellectual heritage ofworld, available to society at large in the form of “human studies” unique to ouruniversity. In other words, we will offer to the world a humanities that is based on
the core spirit of Buddhism—to face the actual problems of society squarely, toseek after the truth and to establish a firm ground for living our lives—in the formof “human studies” unique to our university. In this way, our university, evenwhile it will still retain the traditional philologically-based study of Buddhism at
the center of the university curriculum, will also actively engage in studiesconducted from the perspective of clinical Buddhism that can contribute to thefields of sociology and education, as well as studies than can respond to the needsof society. In this way, we will create a brand image of Otani University as a“university of human studies” having the mission to nurture an independent
person who can discover a way to live his or her life with firm resolution in modernsociety.
1① Goal and Implementation Plan concerning Branding Project[Goals to be Achieved]
・Raising the profile of Otani University in the field of Buddhist studies by giving
academic papers overseas.
・Conducting joint research projects with overseas collaborative institutions.
[Implementation Plan]○Raising the profile of Otani University in the field of Buddhist studies by giving
academic papers overseas:International Conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies(Lisbon), Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies(Toronto), Academic Conference of the International Association of Shin Buddhist
Studies (Musashino University, Tokyo)○“Tannishō Translation Workshop” to be held in association with University ofCalifornia at Berkeley’s Institute for East Asian Studies and Ryūkoku University
Research Center for World Buddhist Cultures (August and March).
○Joint Projects with Collaborating Institutions.
○Lecture on Japanese Buddhism (intensive course) by an Otani professor at Eotvös Loránd University (March).
○Publication of the papers presented at joint symposium “Buddha’s Words andtheir Interpretation” held with Eotvös Loránd University in the 2016 academic② Goal andImplementation Plan year.
○Presentation a paper at the “Academic Conference on Shaolin Temple andfor the 2017
Buddhism in the Northern Dynasties” as part of a joint research project withAcademic Year
China on Buddhism during the Northern Dynasties.
② Goal and Implementation Plan concerning Branding Activities[Goals to be Achieved]○Laying the foundation for research branding strategy and announcement of theselection of the research project.
[Implementation Plan]○Announcement of the transfer of all the activities of The Eastern Buddhist
Society to Otani University.
○During the open campus, a booth will be set up to introduce research and a trial
survey will be carried out. (To be carried out in March.)○Trail presentation of research activities at the nationwide PTA meeting.
○Creation of a website (in Japanese).
○Press release concerning the adoption of the branding project (carried out inJapan, China and Vietnam).
○Dissemination of information concerning adoption of the branding project on theuniversity website and SNS site.

2① Results Achieved concerning Research○Research was carried out under the auspices of the Shin Buddhist
Comprehensive Research Institute.
○Papers were presented at International Conference of the European Associationof Japanese Studies (Lisbon), Conference of the International Association ofBuddhist Studies (Toronto),Academic Conference of the International Associationof Shin Buddhist Studies (Musashino University, Tokyo). “The Tannishō
Translation Workshop” was held in association with University of California at
Berkeley’s Institute for East Asian Studies and Ryūkoku University ResearchCenter for World Buddhist Cultures (August and March). In these ways, it waspossible to raise the overseas profile of Otani University in the field of Buddhiststudies. By sponsoring the panel on “Benefitting Others in Modern Shin Buddhist
Doctrinal Studies of the Otani-ha” at the Academic Conference of the International
Association of Shin Buddhist Studies, it was possible to conduct a sustained
inquiry into one of the central doctrines of Shin Buddhism. These papers, modified
in light of the questions raised during the question-and-answer period, werepublished in English (in Annual Memoirs of the Otani University Shin Buddhist
Comprehensive Research Institute, vol. 35).
○Cooperative research with collaborating institutions was carried by sending aprofessor of Otani University to hold a lecture course on Japanese Buddhism(intensive course) at Eotvös Loránd University (March) and by presenting a paper
at the “Academic Conference on Shaolin Temple and Buddhism in the NorthernDynasties” as part of a joint research project with China on Buddhism during theNorthern Dynasties.
○The papers presented at the joint Otani University-Eotvös Loránd University③ Results for the symposium “Buddha’s Words and their Interpretation” held in the 2016 academic
2017 Academic Year year are still being edited for publication.
○In addition to the academic activities that had originally been planned for thisyear, papers were presented at a workshop “Pure Land Buddhism in the Nara
Schools” (held in Montreal) and at an international symposium “Sufisim and Zen
in the Modern Western World: Spiritual Marriage of East and West or Western
Cultural Hegemony?” (held in Scotland), helping to strengthen ties with overseas
scholars.
② Results Achieved concerning Branding○A notice concerning the adoption of the branding project was received from theMinistry of Education on November 7, 2017. Meetings of the Education andResearch Support Committee and the Working Team on the Research Branding
Project were held on November 29 and December 14, respectively. These meetings
served as a forum for sharing information about the notice concerning the adoptionof the branding project and about the steps to be taken to lay the foundation forresearch branding strategy.
○It was possible to lay the foundation for the research branding strategy and todisseminate information concerning the adoption of our branding project throughthe following means: announcement of the transfer of all activities of The Eastern
Buddhist Society to Otani University, opening a booth during Open Campus to
introduce the branding project and trial survey (in March), trial presentation ofresearch activities at the nationwide PTA meeting, creation of a website (inJapanese), dissemination of information concerning adoption of the branding
project on the university website and SNS site and the issuing a press release tothe media through the University Press Center.

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④ Self-evaluation
and Outside Review
for the 2017
Academic Year(Self-evaluation)○A self-evaluation was conducted during the meeting of the Working Team forResearch Branding Project held on May 24, 2018. In addition to the items listed in“③ Results for the 2017 Academic Year,” the following points can be evaluatedfavorably: the ways in which to subscribe to The Eastern Buddhist was increased,making it easier to subscribe to the journal; The Eastern Buddhist was included in
JSTOR from 2017, making it possible for academic institutions and libraries worldwide to access the journal (number of access: 1224). In addition, the possibility ofusing other means besides publications of academic volumes to disseminate
information effectively overseas (such as in Vietnam) and the introduction ofobjective standards through which to evaluate the research and branding activities
are under consideration.
(Outside review)○An outside review by the Outside Review Committee (consisting of Shengkai[Associate Professor, Qinghua University, China], Professor Gandya [NationalUniversity of Mongolia], Professor Yunwen [Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
History Division] and Professor Hamar Imre [Eotvös Loránd University,Hungary]) is planned for July.

⑤ Status of the Useof the Subsidy for the2017 Academic Year

○The subsidy was used to defray the cost for the activities listed in “③ Results forthe 2017 Academic Year” (including transportation costs and registration fees forattending international conferences, as well as expenses related to the publicationof The Eastern Buddhist such as costs for printing and binding of the journal, fees
for business consignments, commissions and advertising fees).

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