The Adjectival Turn in Japanese Buddhist Studies

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

5-2026

Abstract

This review article examines two recent monographs—Stephan Kigensan Licha’s Esoteric Zen: Zen and the Tantric Teachings in Premodern Japan and Aaron P. Proffitt’s Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism—that each introduce a new adjectival category into the study of Japanese Buddhism. By attaching the adjective “esoteric” to forms of Buddhism that are not usually described in this way, both authors propose heuristics that challenge entrenched sectarian frameworks within Buddhist studies. Licha uses the category “esoteric Zen” to describe a hermeneutical stance through which Zen teachings were interpreted and authorized using tantric doctrinal frameworks, while Proffitt’s “esoteric Pure Land Buddhism” highlights configurations in which Pure Land soteriology was articulated through esoteric ritual technologies. Read together, the books illuminate the eclectic intellectual culture of premodern Japanese Buddhism and the shared discursive space shaped by the hegemonic influence of Tendai esoteric idioms. At the same time, they raise broader methodological questions about how scholars conceptualize relationships between Buddhist traditions. This article argues that the adjectival categories proposed by Licha and Proffitt offer an instructive and persuasive alternative to the language of “syncretism,” which often presupposes the very sectarian boundaries it seeks to explain. While such neologisms could risk generating new reifications, their strategic use can disrupt established classificatory schemes and open new avenues of inquiry. The article concludes by suggesting that similar adjectival experiments may prove fruitful in other Buddhist contexts as well.

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