Kato, B.
| English Phonetics | Bunnō Katō |
|---|---|
| Sort Name | Katō, Bunnō |
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Biographical Information
The late Reverend Bunnō Katō, born in 1888, the translator of Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, was a priest-scholar of the Nichiren Sect of Japanese Buddhism. He completed this translation after three years of devoted work, when he was studying at Oxford University since 1922, with the help of Rev. William Soothill, professor of Chinese. On returning to Japan in 1925, he soon became a lecturer at Risshō University and editor of the Nisshū Shimpō, then a mnthly bulletin of the Nichiren Sect. Afterwards he was appointed head of the doctrinal department at the headquarters of the Sect. Katō's hopes of having his English translation of the Lotus Sutra published failed to materialize several times because of the costs involved. After his death, the manuscript was donated by his widow to the library of Risshō University, where it was kept for 35 years until turned over to Dr. Wilhelm Schiffer, professor at Sophia University and director of the International Institute of the Study of Religions, in 1967 for further revision. His translation, indeed, saw the light of day after an elapse of 46 years since he completed the translation in Oxford. (Source: book jacket, Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law)
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