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Jaina bhandaras, and traditionally studied by Jaina monks. It is an irony of fate that Buddhist materials have been handed down and preserved by a rival system, and it is only thanks to this care that these manuscripts have escaped falling into oblivion.
Although scholars in this country, on the whole, are not yet in a position to do full justice to the vast collection of Jaina texts and commentaries, I am looking forward to the achievements of young scholars who avail themselves of this primary source material. Strange to say, but a few Japanese students have studied Buddhist logic and epistemology, sitting at the feet of eminent Jaina monks and scholars in Gujarat -- a situation which I have no doubt will continue into the future. And although these young scholars may possibly lack fundamental training in various areas, I hope Jaina friends at large will, far from offering discouragement based on fanaticism and self-righteousness, extend them kind encouragement and spiritual support.
In Japan the first academic study of Jainism, to the best of my knowledge, came to fruition in a work entitled Sacred Books of Jainism by Shigenobu Suzuki (1890-1920), and published as part of the series of the World Sacred Books written by various Japanese scholars. It consists of Japanese translations of the Tattvārthādhigumasútra, thc Yogaśāstra, the Kalpasūtra, and a summary of Jaina theory and history (342pp.).
Prof. Ensho Kanakura (1896-1987), who published two books on Jainism in Japanese, must be mentioned as a pioneer of Jaina studies in Japan. One treats the tenet of Jainism in relation to other Indian systems of thought (445pp), and the other is devoted exclusively to Jainism and contains Japanese translations of the Tattvāthāhigamsūra, Nyāyāvatāra, and Pañcāstikāvasāra (1st chap.), the Pravacanasāra (2nd chap.), etc., together with exhaustive accounts of Jaina history (506pp.). Prof. Kanakura once studied under Dr. Hermann
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