Masaharu Anesaki

Religious studies scholar and critic. He went by the pen name Chofu. He was born in Kyoto in 1873. He graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University. He studied abroad in Germany, England, and India. In 1905 (Meiji 38), the first religious studies course was established at the University of Tokyo, and he became its head professor. Alongside his highly original and productive research activities, he also nurtured many students and sowed the seeds of religious studies. In 1930 (Showa 5), ​​he founded the Japanese Association for Religious Studies and served as its president for the rest of his life. He was known abroad as a scholar representing Japan's humanities world, and taught courses on Japanese civilization at Harvard University in the United States and at various European and American universities. He also served as the Japanese member of the Committee on Academic Cooperation of the League of Nations, contributing to cultural exchange between the East and the West. He was better known domestically as a Meiji era man of letters, and while studying at the Imperial University he founded the magazine Teikoku Bungaku (Imperial Literature) with his close friend and classmate Takayama Chogyu. He also wrote provocative essays on civilization, greatly influencing the romanticism of the time. Among his many and prolific writings, his most notable works include An Introduction to Religious Studies (1900), Fundamental Buddhism (1910), Nichiren, the Ascetic of the Lotus Sutra (1916), Persecution and Hiding of the Kirishitan Sect (1925), The Great Ideal of Prince Shotoku (1944), a collection of essays titled Dawn of Resurrection (1904), and his autobiography Waga Shogo (My Life) (1951), which was his last work and was published posthumously.

[Heiya Wakimoto August 19, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

宗教学者、評論家。嘲風(ちょうふう)と号した。明治6年京都府生まれ。東京帝国大学哲学科卒業。ドイツ、イギリス、インドに留学。1905年（明治38）東大に最初の宗教学講座が開設されてその主任教授となり、独創性に富む多産な研究活動のかたわら、多数の門下を育てて宗教学の種をまいた。1930年（昭和5）には日本宗教学会を設立して、終生その会長を務めた。外国では日本の人文学界を代表する学者として知られ、アメリカのハーバード大学の日本文明講座をはじめ、欧米諸大学で講義を担任し、国際連盟学芸協力委員会の日本委員などを歴任して、東西の文化交流に貢献した。国内一般ではむしろ明治の文人として知られ、帝大在学中の同級の親友高山樗牛(たかやまちょぎゅう)らと雑誌『帝国文学』を創刊したのをはじめ、文明評論の健筆を振るって当時の浪漫(ろうまん)主義思潮に大きな影響を与えた。多面多作な著述のうち代表作に『宗教学概論』（1900）、『根本仏教』（1910）、『法華経(ほけきょう)の行者日蓮(にちれん)』（1916）、『切支丹(キリシタン)宗門の迫害と潜伏』（1925）、『聖徳太子の大士(だいし)理想』（1944）、評論集『復活の曙光(しょこう)』（1904）、絶筆となり没後刊行された自伝『わが生涯』（1951）がある。

［脇本平也　2016年8月19日］

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