Undercover Acolytes: Honganji, the J apanese A rmy, and Intelligence‐Gathering Operations

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as the J apanese A rmy sought intelligence on the countries neighbouring J apan, the military made use of the B uddhist priesthood as a cover for intelligence gathering. In addition, elements of the B uddhist priesthood, in particular the K yoto‐based H onganji sect, were happy to cooperate with the military in its intelligence gathering operations, either by allowing military officers to disguise themselves as monks or by having B uddhist monks gather military intelligence for the J apanese A rmy. This article examines the relationship between the J apanese A rmy and the H onganji sect following the 1868 M eiji R estoration, the activities of military officers who disguised themselves as B uddhist monks and the intelligence gathering activities of B uddhist monks, hoping to shed more light on the part that J apanese B uddhism played in J apan's imperial adventures.