Helen Hardacre (born May 20, 1949) is an American Japanologist. She is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilization, Harvard University. [1]
Hardacre was born on May 20, 1949, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, daughter of Paul Hoswell Hardacre, a historian of Stuart England at Vanderbilt University, and Gracia Louise (Manspeaker) Hardacre. [2] She received her Bachelor of Arts (1971) and Master of Arts (1972) at Vanderbilt University, and completed her PhD at University of Chicago, studying under Joseph Kitagawa. [1]
In 1980, she began her academic career at Princeton University's Department of Religion and taught there until 1989. She then spent two years at the School of Modern Asian Studies, Griffith University, Australia. She then moved to Harvard in 1992 and stayed there since then. She is currently the Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society at the Departement of East Asian Languages and Civilization, Harvard University.
She was Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies from 1995 through 1998. [3] Her interests include Japanese society and religion and the ramifications of potential constitutional amendments on the future of religion in Japan. [4]
She, like her father, a Los Angeles-born historian of Britain, [5] would be awarded a Guggenheim fellowship (2003). [6] In 2014, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [7] In 2018, she awarded the Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Class Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the Government of Japan, [1]
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Helen Hardacre, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 30+ works in 80+ publications in 3 languages and 5,000+ library holdings [8]
Shinto is a religion originating from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Shintoists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of Shinto, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners.
Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. According to estimates, as many as 80% of the populace follow Shinto rituals to some degree, worshiping ancestors and spirits at domestic altars and public shrines. An almost equally high number is reported as Buddhist. Syncretic combinations of both, known generally as shinbutsu-shūgō, are common; they represented Japan's dominant religion before the rise of State Shinto in the 19th century.
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and culture of Japan and East Asia. Together with George M. McCune, a scholar of Korea, in 1939 he developed the McCune–Reischauer romanization of the Korean language.
A miko, or shrine maiden, is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance.
Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics.
The Japanese term shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto kami from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a yojijukugo phrase.
Theodore C. Bestor was a professor of anthropology and Japanese studies at Harvard University. He was the president of the Association for Asian Studies in 2012. In 2018, he resigned as director from the Reischauer Institute following an investigation by Harvard officials that found he committed two counts of sexual misconduct.
Albert Morton Craig was an American academic, historian, author and professor emeritus in the Department of History at Harvard University.
Buddhism's rich history spans over 2,500 years, originating from the Indian subcontinent in the 2nd century AD. Teachings of the Buddha were introduced over time, as a response to brahmanical teachings. Buddhism relies on the continual analysis of the self, rather than being defined by a ritualistic system, or singular set of beliefs. The intersections of Buddhism with other Eastern religions, such as Taoism, Shinto, Hinduism, and Bon illustrate the interconnected ideologies that interplay along the path of enlightenment. Buddhism and eastern religions tend to share the world-view that all sentient beings are subject to a cycle of rebirth that has no clear end.
Akira Iriye is a Japanese-born American historian and orientalist. He is a historian of diplomatic history, international, and transnational history. He taught at University of Chicago and Harvard University until his retirement in 2005.
John Whitney Hall was an American historian of Japan who specialized in premodern Japanese history. His life work was recognized by the Japanese government, which awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
Harold Bolitho was an Australian academic, historian, author and professor emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. The name Bolitho is of Cornish origin.
Susan J. Pharr is an academic in the field of political science, a Japanologist, and Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics, director of Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University. Her current research focuses on the changing nature of relations between citizens and states in Asia, and on the forces that shape civil society over time.
Carol Gluck is an American academic and historian of Japan. She is the George Sansom Professor Emerita of History at Columbia University and served as the president of the Association for Asian Studies in 1996.
Shigehisa "Hisa" Kuriyama is a Japanologist and historian of medicine. He is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History at Harvard University.
The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies (RIJS) at Harvard University is a research center focusing on Japan. It provides a forum for stimulating scholarly and public interest.
Allan Georges Grapard is a French academic, historian and Japanologist.
Marius Berthus Jansen was an American academic, historian, and Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University.
The bibliography covers the main scholarly books, and a few articles, dealing with the History of Japan
James E. Ketelaar is an American scholar and historian specializing in the religious, philosophical, and intellectual history of Japan. He is professor emeritus in the Department of History, the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, where he has been teaching since 1996.
