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Hamilton College Associate Professor of Religious Studies Richard Hughes Seager examines Japan's Soka Gakkai Buddhism movement. Seager's research for a previous book, Buddhism in America, piqued his interest in Daisaku Ikeda, the organization's longtime president, and the history of modern Japan.

With a history stretching back to ancient India, Buddhism has influenced American culture since the American Transcendentalist movement in the 1830s and the 40's. Only in the past few decades, however, has this transplanted philosophy begun to blossom into a full-fledged American religion, made up of three broad groups: a burgeoning Asian immigrant population, numerous native-born converts, and old-line Asian American Buddhists. In Buddhism in America, religious historian and associate professor of religious studies , Richard Seager offers a perceptive and engaging portrait of the communities, institutions, practices, and individuals that are integral to the contemporary Buddhist landscape.