Kodera, T.

Takashi James Kodera

Jim Kodera is committed to the academic study of religion from the historical and comparative perspective, with a focus on Asia, broadly including both East Asia and South Asia. More specifically, he offers courses on Buddhism from its origin in India through its development in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan and the West and is also interested in the inner relationship between a contemplative life and social and political responsibility, involving a variety of religious and cultural traditions.

At Wellesley, he helped develop Japanese Studies as part of East Asian Studies Program and Asian American Studies as part of American Studies.

Earlier research focused on individuals and issues in East Asian Buddhism, especially in the Ch’an/Zen tradition. Kodera has written on the place and the role of Christianity in East Asia, including the Jesuits in the 16th century and Uchimura Kanzo. More recently, his research has focused on the plight of “Untouchables” in India (Dalits) and Japan (Burakumin). He is in an early stage of research on Nagasaki from Francis Xavier, who arrived in Nagasaki in 1549, and Takashi Nagai, affected by radiation after the atomic bomb and yet turned Nagasaki into the “City of Prayer” as it remains today, in contrast to Hiroshima. (Source Accessed May 7, 2020)

Affiliations & relations

• Wellesley College · workplace affiliation