Kenneth Tanaka Awarded Academic Prize

(A translation of the Hongwanji Shinpo Newspaper article dated Nov. 1, 2017)

Former BCA minister and IBS faculty is the recipient of the 27th Nakamura Hajime Eastern Study Prize, an
award given annually to those who distinguish themselves in the area of Eastern thought and culture. The
Nakamura Hajime Eastern Institute and the Indian Embassy co-sponsored the award ceremony held on October
20th at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo.
Dr. Tanaka (currently Professor at Musashino Univ.) expressed his joy, “It’s a great honor to be given this
award named after Professor Nakamura (1912-1999), a world-renown Buddhist scholar. I met him when I was
still a student and recall his Bodhisattva-like demeanor. Today, I feel as though he is personally congratulating
me.”
As the foremost specialist on American and Western Buddhism in Japan, Dr. Tanaka was also recognized for
his contribution to the dissemination of Eastern thought internationally by serving as president of two academic
associations, the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies and the Japanese Association for the Study
of Buddhism and Psychology.
Born in Japan in 1947 to nisei parents, he moved with his family to the U.S. at the age of 10. For the first 2
years, he attended a Christian church but had difficulty with the Christian view that an all powerful, all knowing
and loving God created everything, which conflicted with the reality of the world filled with problems, including
that of his parents not along well. At the age of 13, he found himself more at home when introduced to a
Jodo-Shinshu temple in Mt. View, where he found the Buddhist premise that “life includes suffering” to be more
realistic and in keeping with his experience.
Dr. Tanaka graduated in 1970 from Stanford Univ., followed by two Masters programs, one at the Institute
of Buddhist Studies and the other at the Univ. of Tokyo. He completed his studies with a Ph.D. in Buddhist
Studies at the Univ. of California, Berkeley; since then he has produced 15 authored and/or edited books in
English and Japanese.
In reflecting on the personal aim of his research, Dr. Tanaka concluded the interview with his experience
when teaching at a Catholic college in India. “At that Christian college, there was a huge painting in one of the
main hallways that depicted Jesus sitting in a lotus position like a Buddha! I felt this symbolized the kind of
‘religious pluralism’ that is needed to improve the current state of the world beset by violence and conflicts. It’s
always been my wish to contribute in some ways toward that goal.”

(K. Tanaka’s comment to the BCA: I wish to express my profound gratitude to the BCA, which as my “spiritual
home” provided the nurturance in my younger years. Without it, I would not be where I am today. I hope to
continue to work with my friends in the BCA to share the Nembutsu especially after my retirement from the
university in 2018.)

1
1) Photo caption: Indian Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy conferring the award to Kenneth Tanaka, with Dr.
Hajime Nakamura’s enlarged photo on stage
2) Photo of Ken Tanaka: (This was included with the Hongwanji article. If you cannot include both photos, I prefer
that you include the other photo with the Indian Ambassador.)