ABSTRACT
Japanese equivalents, Saoskrit and Pali equivalents); maps, pp. 533-44; no bibli ography. In 1991 Editions du Rocher pub lished a French translation by Rene de Berval. □ Critique This Japanese REALLEXIKON furnishes a meticulous GLOSSARY of about fo u rteen hundred item s, includ ing schools, concepts, texts and persons (chiefly Japanese). Definitions are phrased with unusual care, and the W HO’S WHO differentiates lineages and schools dili gently. Articles on “Shakyamuni” and “Nichiren Daishonin” are the longest (four and six pages respectively). In defer ence to numerology, no fewer than ten articles address topics beginning “Eight [types] . . . ” and twenty-five begin “Ten [types] . . . ” Scholars of religion will find this the soundest of the Japanese GLOSSA RIES. It renders Japanese phraseology into elegant English, a feat matched by Rene de Berval in the French edition. Both transmit tradition with precision. □ Summary This exacting REALLEXIKON encapsulates Japanese Buddhism, particu larly of the Nichiren school. The defini tions are among the m ost quotable Buddhist utterances anywhere.
