Bringing together Buddhist Wisdom and Japanese Culture for more than Seventy Years
The ABSC vision is to bring together American and global communities who seek the unconditional wisdom and compassion expressed in Buddhist teachings. All are welcome.
Trailblazer
The American Buddhist Study honors outstanding individuals who have made the Buddha Dharma their lifetime mission to create a better world
ABSC Honors Eshinni Shonin and Kakushinni, her daughter
There is little known about Nun Eshinni (1182-1268), but there is still much to unpack about her life. We know she was the wife of Shinran Shonin, and considered the mother of Shin Buddhism. She was a devoted wife and a devoted follower of Shinran’s teachings. In 1921, ten letters were discovered in the archives of the Hongwanji in Kyoto. These letters were written in the declining years of her life. The letters authenticate the existence of Shinran, the founder of Shin Buddhism, and her daughter Kakushinni.
These letters offer us a glimpse into the world of Buddhism, as practiced by ordinary women of this time, which would have been otherwise hidden in the shadows of a history chronicled mainly by men. In the letters, Eshinni conveys her deep reverence for her husband.
First Japanese Students at Rutgers
In collaboration with Rutgers University, we tell the story of the first Japanese students to attend the university
Honoring Kusakabe Taro and William Griffis
In 1867, Kusakabe Tarō (1845–1870), a young samurai from Fukui, Japan, matriculated at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, as one of the first two Japanese students enrolled in an American college. In 1870 his friend and tutor, William Elliot Griffis (1843–1928), Rutgers class of 1869, left for Japan to teach English and science, first in Kusakabe’s home province of Fukui and then in Tokyo. He stayed in Japan for three and a half years, and upon his return to the United States he published The Mikado’s Empire, which became an authoritative book on Japanese history, culture, and society at the time. Griffis became the leading interpreter of Japan before World War I and spent his life writing and lecturing about Japan and Asia.
The year 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Griffis’ The Mikado’s Empire and the 100th since his final visit to Japan in 1926—1927, when he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun from the emperor of Japan. As we commemorate Griffis’ monumental achievements, we also wish to celebrate the efforts that have been made by the communities in Japan, New Jersey, and here in New York, to cherish and embrace the friendship between U.S. and Japan fostered by Kusakabe and Griffis.
ABOUT Us
American Buddhist Study Center was originally founded in 1951 by the late Reverend Hozen Seki. At that time the Study Center’s name was The American Buddhist Academy. Back then Reverend Seki’s wanted to enlighten the spirit and the minds of Americans to the great compassion, wisdom, and teachings of Amida Buddha.
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Toshiko Sakao's Calligraphy Workshop
Toshiko Sakao's Japanese Calligraphy Workshop
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