Takakusu Junjiro

(1866-1945), who often published as J. Takakusu, was a Japanese academic, an advocate for expanding higher education opportunities, and an internationally known Buddhist scholar.

Early life

Takakusu was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, adopted by the Takakusu family of Kobe, and sent to England to study Sanskrit at Oxford University (1890). After receiving his doctorate, he continued his studies in France and Germany.

Academic career

Upon his return to Japan in 1894, he was appointed Professor at the Tokyo Imperial University and Director of Tokyo School of Foreign Languages.

He founded the Musashino Girls' School in 1924. The institution evolved on the principle of "Buddhist-based human education," moving in 1929 to its present location in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo and becoming Musashino Women's University. The institution Takakusu founded is now known as .

From 1924 to 1934, Takakusu and others established the , later known as the , which collected, edited, and published the Taisho Tripitaka. This massive compendium is now available online as the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA) Tripitaka.

In 1930, he was named President of the Tokyo Imperial University. He was a member of the Imperial Academy of Japan and a Fellow of the British Academy. He was a recipient of Asahi Cultural Prize and the Japanese government's Order of Culture. He was he was awarded an honorary degree by Tokyo Imperial University; and he was similarly honored by the universities at Oxford, Leipzig, and Heidelberg.

At the time of his death in June 1945, he was Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit at the Tokyo Imperial University.

Honors

Asahi Cultural Prize
Order of Culture, 1944.

Selected works

The Amitâyur dhyâna-sûtra, trans J. Takakusu, in Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts, Part 2, published in Sacred Books of the East, vol. 49, pp. 161-201, Oxford University Press, 1894.

A Record of the Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago, London: Clarendon Press, 1896.

Dai Nihon Bukkyō zensho, ed. Takakusu Junjirō et al., 150 volumes, Tokyo: Dai Nihon Bukkyō zensho kankōkai, 1913-1921. (Re-edited, 100 volumes, Suzuki gakujutsu zaidan, Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1970-1973.