Zen at War

Zen at War is a book written by Brian Daizen Victoria, first published in 2002. The second edition appeared in 2006. The book focuses on the history of Zen Buddhism and Japanese militarism from the time of the Meiji Restoration through the Second World War and the post-War period. It describes the influence of state policy on Japanese Buddhism, and particularly the influence of Zen philosophy on the Japanese military.
The book also explores the actions of Japanese Buddhists who opposed the growth of militarism. The 2002 edition of Zen at War was followed by Zen War Stories, which further explores the intimate relationship between Japanese institutional Buddhism and militarism during World War II. 
The author, Brian Victoria, trained at the Sôtô Zen monastery of Eiheiji and is a fully ordained priest in the Sôtô sect. He received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the Department of Religion at Temple University and his M.A. from Sôtô-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, where he also majored in Buddhist Studies. He has taught Japanese language and culture at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Creighton University, and Bucknell University in the United States and lectured in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Auckland. He was a Senior Lecturer in Centre in Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. He has also been Yehan Numata Distinguished Visiting Professor, Buddhist Studies at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in Honolulu.
==General Reviews==
*Review of Zen at War by Fabio Rambelli, in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics
*Review of Zen at War by David Loy
*"Zen Holy War?", a review by Josh Baran
* Review of Zen at War by Vladimir K, at the zensite.com
==Articles on Related Topics==
* Bethel, Dayle M. "Two Views of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's Attitude toward Japanese Militarism and Education," (The Journal of Oriental Studies (vol. 12, 2003), pp. 208)
* Daniel A. Metraux, "A Critical Analysis of Brian Victoria's Perspectives on Modern Japanese Buddhist History" (Journal of Global Buddhism, ISSN 1527-6457)
* Miyata, Koichi, "Critical Comments on Brian Victoria's 'Engaged Buddhism: A Skeleton in the Closet?'" (Journal of Global Buddhism (vol. 3, 2002), pp. 79-85)
* Noelke, Muho, Letter to a friend about Zen practice, family life, Japanese Buddhism and the war about Zen at war - includes correspondence with Brian Victoria
* Sato, Kemmyō Taira, "Suzuki Daisetsu no Makoto (鈴木大拙のまこと)" (Kamakura: Matsugaoka Bunko Foundation, Newsletter no. 21, 2007)
* Sato, Kemmyō Taira, (Trans. Thomas Kirchner) "D. T. Suzuki and the Question of War (Kyoto: The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. 39, No.1, (New Series) 2008 )
==See also==
*Bushido
*Shinbutsu Bunri
==References==
Category:1998 books
Category:Japanese militarism
Category:Zen studies books
Category:History of Buddhism
Category:Zen