Masatoshi Ueki

Masatoshi Ueki (植木 雅俊, Ueki Masatoshi, born 1951) is a Japanese scholar renowned for his expertise in Buddhist studies.

Masatoshi Ueki
Born1951
Academic background
Alma materOchanomizu University (Ph.D.)
Kyushu University
Doctoral advisorHajime Nakamura
Academic work
DisciplineBuddhist studies
Notable worksThe Lotus Sutra
The Vimalakirti Sutra

Ueki is an expert in the original Buddhist texts, including Sanskrit and Pali, which offer a comprehensive understanding of Buddhism's diachronic history, from its earliest beginnings (i.e., Early Buddhism) to the Mahayana sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra and Vimalakirti Sutra. Additionally, Ueki conducts detailed analyses of the Chinese and Japanese translations of these important sutras, providing a rich and multifaceted view of Buddhist philosophy and practice.

Career

Masatoshi Ueki is a scholar whose research focuses on Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist thoughts. Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Ueki obtained his Bachelor of Physics and Master of Science degrees from Kyushu University. Prior to his work in academia, he worked as a journalist, specializing in fine arts and literature. In recognition of his exceptional storytelling skills, Ueki was awarded the "Cosmos, rookie of the year" award in 1992 for his piece titled "Circus girl."

Starting in 1991, Ueki studied under Professor Hajime Nakamura at the Eastern Institute. In 2002, Ueki received his Ph.D. (Humanity) from Ochanomizu University with a thesis entitled「仏教におけるジェンダー平等の研究──『法華経』に至るインド仏教からの考察」[Gender equality in Buddhism: An analysis of Indian Buddhism, from Early Buddhism to ‘the Lotus Sutra'][1][2] From 2008 to 2013, Ueki worked as an adjunct lecturer at Center for the Studies of World Civilizations, Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has also taught at NHK cultural center and Asahi culture center

In 2008, Ueki published “Bon-Kan-Wa Taisho Gendaigo Yaku, Hokekyo",[3] 1st and 2nd volumes (『梵漢和対照・現代語訳 法華経』(上・下), [The Lotus Sutra: A contrastive translation between Sanskrit-Chinese-Japanese], which consist of 1) Sanskrit texts, 2) Chinese translation by Kumarajiva, and 3) Japanese translation by the author).[4] With this work, Ueki won the Mainichi Shuppan Bunka Sho.[5]

He also translated ‘the Vimalakirti Sutra’, which was found in Potala Palace, Tibet, in 1999, into modern Japanese, and published “Bon-Kan-Wa Taisho Gendaigo Yaku, Yuimakyo"[6] (『梵漢和対照・現代語訳 維摩経』, [The Vimalakirti Sutra: A contrastive translation between Sanskrit-Chinese-Japanese]), and won the Papyrus Award in 2013.[7]

In 2017, Ueki wrote a series of columns for the Nishinippon Shimbun titled "Bukkyo 50 wa"(『仏教50話』[50 Buddhist stories] ).[8] His aim was to make the teachings of Buddhism accessible to a wider audience by explaining them using everyday concepts and common sense.

In 2018, April, Ueki was serving as a commentator on the NHK's "100 Pun de Meicho"[9] (『100分de名著』[Introducing a literary masterpiece in under 100 minutes]) broadcasting program. 

Ueki is a member of The Japan P.E.N Club, The Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies, and Japanese Association for Comparative Philosophy.

Talks

Date Venue Original title Temporary English title
2023/6/15 Democracy times 日蓮はニセ科学嫌いのフェミニストだった 植木雅俊さん 池田香代子の世界を変える100人の働き人77人目 Nichiren’s Surprising Deep Compassion for Women by Dr. Masatoshi Ueki No.77
2022/11/24 Democracy times 原始仏教・大乗仏教の溌剌とした女性たち 植木雅俊さん 池田香代子の世界を変える100人の働き人68人目 Vivid Women of Primitive and Mahayana Buddhism by Dr. Masatoshi Ueki No.68
(1)2022/2/7
(2)2022/2/14
(3)2022/2/21
(4)2022/2/28
NHK (TV broadcast) 「100分de名著」名著116『日蓮の手紙』 Introducing a literary masterpiece in under 100 minutes, No. 116: "The Letters of Nichiren."
2018/12/22 Nishogakusha University インド仏教の日本文学への影響――短歌・俳句を中心に The influence of Indian Buddhism on Japanese literature: Tankan and Haiku as an example
(1)2018/4/2
(2)2018/4/9
(3)2018/4/16
(4)2018/4/23
NHK (TV broadcast) 「100分de名著」名著75『法華経』 Introducing a literary masterpiece in under 100 minutes,, No. 75. The Lotus Sutra
2017/7/2 The Japan Science Society[10] 原始仏教における知と信 Faith and knowledge in Early Buddhism
2017/3/15 Ikegami Honmon-ji 元政上人の詩歌と仏教 Poems by Gensei shōnin[11] and Buddhism
2015/7/11 Embassy of India, Tokyo 日本文学に見る大乗仏教の影響――短歌、俳句を中心に The influences of Mahayana teachings on Japanese literature - Tanka and Haiku as cases
2014/6/15 Japan poet Association

The H award ceremony

釈迦さまも詩人であった The Buddha is also a poet
2014/2/23 The Papyrus Award

commemorative speech

私の学問人生 My study life
2013/7/26 Soka University 絶妙だった鳩摩羅什訳ーーサンスクリット語から『法華経』『維摩経』を翻訳して[12] The excellence in Kumārajīva's translation -

The Lotus sutra and the Vimalakirti Sutra from Sanskrit

2013/1/20 NPO Tokyo Jiyu Daigaku 仏教との出会いと、その後 An encounter with the Buddhism, then ...

Publication

Publication in English

• Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture(with Robin Wang and Makiko Ueki)Hackett Publ. Inc., Massachusetts, 2003[13]

• Gender Equality in Buddhism, Asian Thought and Culture series vol. 46, Peter Lang Publ. Inc., New York, 2001[14]

Translation

・Japanese Translation of Therī-gāthā: Pāli Terminology and Grammatical Analysis (2023)

・Japanese Translation of The Lotus Sutra: Sanskrit Terminology and Grammatical Analysis (2020)

・Japanese Translation of The Vimalakirti Sutra: Sanskrit Terminology and Grammatical Analysis (2019)

・“Therī-gāthā — Immortal Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns,”[15][16] (2017)

・“The Lotus Sutra — Translation into Modern Language of a Sanskrit Original”[15](2015)

・The Vimalakirti Sutra (2011)

・The Lotus Sutra (2008)

Books

(some major works by Ueki)

Original title English title Date Publisher
日蓮の手紙 The letters of Nichiren 2021 Kadokawa sophia bunko
法華経とは何か―その思想と背景 What is the Lotus sutra? The philosophy and backgrounds[15] 2020 Kadokawa sophia bunko
今を生きるための仏教100話 “100 Stories about Buddhism for Living in the Present Time”[15] 2019 Heibonsha, INC.
江戸の大詩人 元政上人-京都深草で育んだ詩心と仏教 A great poet of Edo era, Gensei Shounin - Deepening the heart of poet and Buddhism in Kyoto Fukakusa 2018 CHUOKORON-SHINSHA, INC.
差別の超克――原始仏教と法華経の人間観 Overcoming Discrimination - The view of the human in the Early Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra[15] 2018 Kodansha Ltd.
法華経 2018年4月 (100分 de 名著) The Lotus Sutra: April 2018 (An introduction to a masterpiece within 100 minutes) 2018 NHK Publishing
人間主義者、ブッダに学ぶ――インド探訪 Learning from Buddha as a Humanist -Visiting and searching India 2016 Gakuge Mirai Sha
本当の法華経(橋爪大三郎との対談) The truth of the Lotus Sutra(Discussions with Daisaburo Hasizume) 2015 Chikuma
仏教学者 中村元――求道のことばと思想 Hajime Nakamura, A Buddhist scholar - Seeking the truth in words and thoughts 2014 Kadokawa
思想としての法華経 The Lotus Sutra as philosophical thoughts 2012 Iwanami
仏教、本当の教え――インド、中国、日本の理解と誤解 The truth of teaching in Buddhism - Understandings and misunderstandings in India, China, and Japan 2011 Chuokoron Shinsha


Columns

『仏教50話』(50 Buddhist stories) (2017) Nishinippon Shimbun.

50 Buddhist stories
No. Original title Temporary English title Date
1 紆余曲折 Twists and turns 2017/9/12
2 自分で考える Thinking by yourself 2017/9/13
3 乞眼のバラモン Eye-begging Brahman 2017/9/14
4 言葉が出来上がる! Words developed! 2017/9/15
5 中村先生の励まし Encouragement by Prof. Nakamura 2017/9/18
6 "人間ブッダ"の探求 Seeking "the Buddha as a human" 2017/9/20
7 釈尊の平等思想 Shakyamuni's idea of equality 2017/9/21
8 悟りを表明する女性 Women expressing her enlightenment 2017/9/22
9 女性の自立と財産権 Independence of woman and property rights 2017/9/25
10 女性の知恵第一 A woman of a top master of Wisdom 2017/9/26
11 "無我"という誤訳 "Anatta(non-self)" as a misinterpretation 2017/9/27
12 自己との対決の必要性 Necessity to confront one's self 2017/9/28
13 "真の自己"の探求 Seeking "the true self" 2017/9/29
14 インド訪問 Visiting to India 2017/10/2
15 「成仏」は人格の完成 "Enlightenment" as a perfection of character 2017/10/3
16 タゴールの思想 Tagore philosophy 2017/10/4
17 如実知見の困難さ Difficulty of "perceiving reality as it is" 2017/10/5
18 過去を引きずらない Overcoming the past 2017/10/6
19 盲信を否定する Deny of blind faith 2017/10/11
20 釈尊の遺言 Shakyamuni's testament 2017/10/12
21 民主的な会議 Democratic meeting 2017/10/13
22 ブッダの神格化 Deification of the Buddha 2017/10/16
23 教団の権威主義化 Authoritarianism by the order 2017/10/17
24 莫大な布施と蓄財 Enormous donation and savings 2017/10/18
25 大乗の"差別思想" Discrimination by "the Great Vehicle" 2017/10/19
26 法華経の平等思想 Equality preached in the Lotus Sutra 2017/10/20
27 怨みを捨ててこそ Throwing away a grudge 2017/10/23
28 最後の講義 The last lecture 2017/10/24
29 自作の戒名 A posthumous Buddhist name by themselves 2017/10/25
30 法華経の導きか? A guidance by the Lotus sutra? 2017/10/26
31 日系二世の菩薩道 A life as the Bodhisattva by a second generation Japanese 2017/10/27
32 龍女の成仏 Enlightenment of Naga princess 2017/10/31
33 ジェンダーフリー? Gender free? 2017/11/1
34 葬式のおまじない? Incantatory for funeral? 2017/11/2
35 納得できる訳を Translation with full understanding 2017/11/3
36 掛詞が表す寛容思想 Tolerance expressed by pivot words 2017/11/6
37 宗派を超える視点 The viewpoint beyond each sect 2017/11/7
38 仏塔か経典か? Stupa or sutra? 2017/11/8
39 聖地信仰への反省 Reflection to holy land faith 2017/11/9
40 人と法 People and the law 2017/11/10
41 巨大化した如来 Giant growth of Thus come one 2017/11/14
42 ブラックホール Black hole 2017/11/15
43 ゼロと巨大数 Zero and large numbers 2017/11/16
44 白川義員さん Mr. Yoshikazu Shirakawa 2017/11/17
45 報恩 Repaying kindness 2017/11/20
46 菅原文太さん Mr. Bunta Sugawara 2017/11/21
47 偶然的必然 Accidentally but the inevitable 2017/11/22
48 『等伯』 Tohaku 2017/11/23
49 忘れ去られた詩人 A forgotten poet 2017/11/27
50 今を生きる Living now 2017/11/28

Others

See Japanese profile

Footnotes

  1. "Theses | Ochanomizu University, The graduate school of human cultures(Ph.D.)Gender studies". www.dc.ocha.ac.jp. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  2. He is the first man who was conferred Ph.D. from Ochanomizu University
  3. "梵漢和対照・現代語訳 法華経".
  4. This includes a large number of notes which discussed more than 500 issues in the previously published Lotus Sutra Japanese translation published by Iwanami and Chuo Koron Sha
  5. "World of Literary prize".
  6. "梵漢和対照・現代語訳 維摩経".
  7. "The Papyrus Award". www.sekizaidan.sakura.ne.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  8. "Next column series:「50 Buddhist stories」Masatoshi Ueki".
  9. 法華経 2018年4月 (100分 de 名著).
  10. "木魂(こだま)する科学とこころ".
  11. He influenced on the poets in Edo period, including Matsuo Bashō.
  12. "Soka Kyoiku No7, pp.27-61" (PDF).
  13. Robin., Wang (2003). Images of women in Chinese thought and culture : writings from the pre-Qin period through the Song dynasty. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co. ISBN 9780872206519. OCLC 51878289.
  14. Ueki, Masatoshi (2001). Gender equality in Buddhism. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820451336. OCLC 44516683.
  15. Democracy times. "Vivid Women of Primitive and Mahayana Buddhism by Dr. Masatoshi Ueki No.68 2022.8.16".
  16. "テーリー・ガーター 尼僧たちのいのちの讃歌".
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