Kasahara Kenju

Who was Kasahara Kenju?

Kasahara Kenju was a Buddhologist and Indologist in Japan.

With Takakusu Junjiro and Nanjo Bunyu, Kasahara went to Great Britain in 1876 Oxford under the academic guidance of Max Müller in order to study Sanskrit and Pali texts for a more authentic understanding of Buddhist teachings from their original languages as they had previously only used Chinese texts that were possibly dubious translations.

Though very young, they contributed tremendously to the development of Buddhology and Indology in the West as well as creating a strong liaison between East and West.