"Brian Daizen Victoria reveals for the first time, through examination of the wartime writings of the Japanese military itself, that the Zen school's view of life and death was deliberately incorporated into the military's programme of 'spiritual education' in order to develop a fanatical military spirit in both soldiers and civilians. Furthermore, it is shown that D. T. Suzuki, the most famous exponent on Zen in the West, was a wartime proponent of this Zen-inspired viewpoint which enabled Japanese soldiers to leave for the battlefield already resigned to death. Victoria takes us on to the naval battlefield in the company of warrior-monk and Rinzai Zen Master Nakajima Genjo. We view the war in China through the eyes of a Buddhist military chaplain. The book also examines the relationship to Buddhism of Japan's seven class-A war criminals, hung by the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1948." "A highly controversial study, this book will be of interest not only to those studying the history of the period, but also to anyone concerned with the perennial question of the 'proper' relationship between religion and state."--BOOK JACKET.

The Zen Master wept -- Monks and soldiers move on their stomachs -- The Zen of assassination -- åOmori Såogen : the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Zen -- Zen Master Dåogen goes to war : the militarist and anti-semitic writings of Yasutani Haku'un -- Carrying Zen to China -- Zen "selflessness" in Japanese militarism. The general and the Zen Master ; Zen : the foundation of military spirit -- Buddhist war bereavement -- Confessions of a Buddhist chaplain -- Buddhism : the last refuge of war criminals. Colonel Tsuji Masanobu goes underground ; Finding religion on death row -- Buddhism : a top secret religion in wartime Japan.