Inoue Enryō

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Inoue".

Inoue Enryō (井上 円了, March 18, 1858 - June 6, 1919), Japanese, Buddhist philosopher, educator, and nationalist; one of the most influential Buddhists of the Meiji era. Ordained as a priest in his father's Jodo Shinshu Ōtani branch 眞宗大谷派. Graduated with a doctorate from Tokyo Imperial University in 1896 focusing mainly on Western philosophy. He renounced his status as a Buddhist priest for the lay life, but remained committed to 'reforming Buddhism.' He is the founder what later became Toyo University 東洋大學. There he established a new discipline for the study of the mysterious he called yokaigaku 妖怪學. A prolific author, Inoue published numerous works on Buddhism, philosophy, education, religion, and monsters. He is most famous for Bukkyō Katsuron, 佛教活論 and his popular lectures on the mysterious. He contributed to attempts to 'modernize' Buddhism by arguing for its compatibility with Western philosophy and science. Inoue spent the later part of his life traveling the country giving lectures discouraging belief in monsters. He died 6th of June 1919 while giving a lecture in Dalian, China.

Trivia

As a result of his studies of the supernatural, he was best known as Dr. Ghost or Dr. Yōkai.

The Chinese translation of The Study of Yōkai (妖怪學講義) is the work of Cai Yuanpei, a noted Chinese educator and philosopher who also serves as the Chancellor of Peking University.

See also

• Charles Fort
• International Fortean Organization

External links

• The Inoue Enryo Center, Toyo University
• Josephson, "When Buddhism Became a “Religion:” Religion and Superstition in the Writings of Inoue Enryō [1]
• Inoue Enryo, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, Login Required