Kudō Takeki, Director of Keijō Women's Hospital, and His Medical Service for Women and Buddhist Activities in Colonial Korea

Kudō Takeki, Director of Keijō Women's Hospital, and His Medical Service for Women and Buddhist Activities in Colonial Korea

Kudō Takeki, Director of Keijō Women's Hospital, and His Medical Service for Women and Buddhist Activities in Colonial Korea

Jaemok CHOI** Yeungnam University  최재목 영남대학

Jeonggon KIM*** Yeungnam University

Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies Vol.19 No.1

© 2019 Academy of East Asian Studies. 59-90 

ABSTRACT

Keywords: Kudoˉ Takeki 工藤武城, “Fujin kagaku” (婦人科學 gynecology), Buddhism, medical service, women, colonial rule, mind-field (shinden 心田), Kannon faith, Zen, Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ

Kudō Takeki, Director of Keijō Women's Hospital, and His

Medical Service for Women and Buddhist Activities in Colonial Korea

Jaemok Choi, Jeonggon Kim

Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 19, Number 1, April 2019, pp. 59-90 (Article)

Published by Duke University Press

      For additional information about this article

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/725765

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Sungkyun Journal  of  East  Asian  Studies Vol.19 No.1

© 2019 Academy of East Asian Studies. 59-90 DOI: 10.21866/esjeas.2019.19.1.004

Kudoˉ Takeki, Director of Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital, and His Medical Service for Women and Buddhist Activities in Colonial Korea*

Jaemok CHOI** 최재목

Yeungnam University Jeonggon KIM***

Yeungnam University

  emails of the authors:  choijm@ynu.ac.kr, cen18@daum.net  

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the relationship between women’s medical care and Buddhism through the activities of Kudoˉ Takeki 工藤武城 (1878–?), director of Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital during the Japanese occupation of Korea, and how Kudoˉ’s projects functioned under Japanese “cultural rule” (Bunka seiji 文化政治) in colonial Korea. Kudoˉ Takeki specialized in gynecology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. Along with some other influential figures in Korea, he sought to cure even spiritual problems of his patients through Buddhist propagation and literary activities. Through his activities, Kudoˉ Takeki helped promote such initiatives on the part of the colonial rulers in their management of colonial Korea. His activities involved forging connections between medical service and Buddhism and between Buddhism and women. After the March First Movement of 1919, Governor-General Saitoˉ turned his attention to women, who had become more receptive to Buddhism in Korea after centuries of domination under Confucianism in Choso˘n, as well as to medical science and service, the “benefits of civilization.” In this respect, the “cultural rule” of the colonial state tried to exercise governance by reconciling medicine, Buddhism, and women into a regime that could effectively further its agenda. In this invisible framework, Kudoˉ took it as his calling to improve the social status of Korean women and give them relief through his medical knowledge and practice. 

Keywords: Kudoˉ Takeki 工藤武城, “Fujin kagaku” (婦人科學 gynecology), Buddhism, medical service, women, colonial rule, mind-field (shinden 心田), Kannon faith, Zen, Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ

Introduction

Kudoˉ Takeki 工藤武城 (1878–?) was the director of a women’s hospital in Seoul during the Japanese occupation of Korea. This paper explores the relationship between medical service and Buddhism through his activities and discusses how they functioned under Japanese “cultural rule” 文化政治 (Bunka seiji) in colonial Korea.

Kudoˉ Takeki was born in Kumamoto, Japan and specialized in gynecology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. He was one of the elite Japanese settlers in Korea. Appointed to Hanso˘ng Hospital run by the Association for Japanese Residents (Kyoryuˉmindan 居留民團) in Seoul as chief of its Gynecology Department in December 1905, he established Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital two years  later and worked as its director (Kawabata 1910, 91–92; Choˉsen koˉronsha 1917, 307). In collaboration with elite Japanese settlers working in other fields in Korea, Kudoˉ played a role in supporting Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. He was not simply a doctor who tried to cure bodily disease. Along with other influential figures in Korea, he sought to cure even the spiritual problems of his patients through Buddhist literary activities.^[1] In a sense, Kudoˉ can be seen as a figure exemplifying the ideals of Japanese colonial rule based on his Buddhist convictions. Hence, this paper attempts to illustrate how Kudoˉ Takeki’s medical and religious activities were closely associated with the policies of Japanese imperial rule in colonial Korea.

This paper will first examine how Kudoˉ’s understanding of “the science of gynecology” and his Buddhist literary activities, including his Zen 禪 practice, were related to Japan’s cultural rule; and second, it will explore how medical service, Buddhism, and women were connected in colonial Korea through the medium of Kudoˉ’s “Kannon faith.”

Religion and Medicine

One of the major concerns of religion has always been how to address the problem of pain in people’s lives. This is not merely an important consideration; indeed, it is arguably the central point of religion. In the Bible, for example, Jesus served as a healer of the sick and those possessed by demons, and this was central to his mission, along with preaching the Gospel. Building hospitals was considered an important part of Christian missionary work in terms of modernization throughout the world. Confucianism and Buddhism were no exceptions: As expressed in such terms as “Confucian physician” 儒醫 and “monk physician” 僧醫, these two religions also regarded the problem of disease and treatment as important, though they tended to locate the cause of disease in the “mind.” Taoism even has a scripture on the human body, the Huangdi neijing 黃帝内經. By presenting an ideal principle for medical remedy, as expressed in the statement “The perfected person treats diseases according to the Tao” 眞人以道治病, this ancient Chinese medical text still retains a certain influence even today.

Buddhism can itself be described as an extensive medical system whereby its followers, faced with the sufferings of birth, aging, illness, and death—miseries that people are fated to experience throughout life—attempt to find the causes of these sufferings, remove them, and proceed to the world of enlightenment. Above all, the presence of faith in Bhaiṣajyaguru (J. Yakushi nyorai 藥師如來) and

^* This work was supported by the research fund for post-doctoral researcher projects, 2014, of Yeungnam University.

^** First author. 

^*** Corresponding author.

Avalokiteśvara (J. Kannon bosatsu 觀音菩薩), who save people from the sufferings of illness, is a case in point. When we discuss Buddhism with regard to women, the Saddharma Puṇḍariˉka Suˉtra (or Lotus Sotra 法華經) was also widely known to both Japanese and Korean people, along with the Śriˉmaˉlaˉdeviˉ Siṃhanaˉda Suˉtra 勝鬘經. Good fortune is promised to those who remember, transcribe, recite, explain, and practice the sutra, which itself claims to be “foremost among all sutras.”

This sutra emancipates all sentient beings from their anguish…just like a sick person encountering a doctor . . . [it] allows sentient beings to be released from all kinds of sufferings, all kinds of illness-originated pain, and frees them from all the bonds of life and death. If someone listens to [a recitation of] the Saddharma Pund..ari^ˉka Suˉtra or writes it down, or has someone else write it down, he will have immeasurable good fortune . . . If a sick person can hear this sutra, the illness will disappear immediately and he will achieve perpetual youth and immortality. (Kim 2001, 405–9) (Authors’ emphasis)

Women suffering from some kind of weakness or illness have long loved this sutra. One chapter called “The Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Universal Gate from the Lotus Suˉtra” 觀世音菩薩普門品 became independent and was separately called the Avalokiteśvara Suˉtra 觀音經 and gave rise to the “Kannon faith” or “Belief in the Bodhisattva of Avalokiteśvara,” projecting the feminine image as a goddess of mercy who delivers her followers from afflictions and distress.

If a pregnant woman gives obeisance and offerings to Avalokites´vara to have a boy, she will have a son with good fortune and wisdom; if she wants a daughter, she will have a proper and beautiful daughter. If she performed a great many good deeds in her former life, she will be loved and respected by all. . . When someone was needed to be delivered through a woman, [Avalokites´vara] appeared immediately in a woman’s body and taught [him/her] the Dharma. . . . (Kim, 2001: 429–30, 432).

The teachings of Zen and Zen dialogues have sometimes been compared to medical practice, as exemplified by such phrases as “medicine applied according to illness” 施設藥病 and “curing the diseases and untying the bonds” 治病解縛 (Linji

2015, 204 and 252). Buddhism aims to resolve the sufferings of life, and medical science focuses on disease. Both share the same basic originary motive. Health in Buddhism can be said to be inseparable from enlightenment as it is a necessary condition for “practicing the path of enlightenment,” and not an objective in itself (Sasaki 2011, 25–26).

How did Kudoˉ try to connect religion and medical knowledge? Kudoˉ took an especially keen interest in religion. Kudoˉ criticized Korean medicine (like science in general in Korea) for having made no progress under the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism. Nevertheless, he said that it was worth encouraging Korean medicine to adopt Confucian and Buddhist ideas, including the understanding of the human body based on the theory of yin-yang and the five elements in the Yijing 易經 (Kudoˉ 1911, 27). He referred to Confucianism and Buddhism when he discussed the historical impact of religion on medicine in Korea, as both had exerted significant influence on traditional medical science, but the medical knowledge found in Buddhist sutras had much greater importance. As a result, medicine was practiced by “monk physicians,” and this system was also introduced to Japan. Even after Korean medicine became independent from Buddhism, many clear traces of its influence remained.

It seems that many Buddhist sects came to Korea, including the Sanron School 三論宗, the Hossoˉ School 法相宗, the Joˉjitsu School 成實宗, and the Kusha School 俱舍宗  . . . When Buddhism first came to Korea, it had much greater influence on medicine than Confucianism. The authority to apply treatment at the time was ceded to Buddhist monks, giving rise to what was called the “monk physician” in Korea. Monk physicians were introduced to Japan to a considerable extent. . . Even after the monks later lost authority to apply treatment in Korea and medicine became independent, Korean medicine still carried significant influence from Buddhism. Evidence comes before theory—take a Korean doctor and ask him, “Why does a disease occur?” and he will instantly reply, “An illness comes about from the lack of harmony between earth, water, fire, and wind.” This is the substance of the etiology of Korean medicine. The main points are: The four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind form the foundation of the Buddhist theory of the impermanence of cause and effect; the skeleton and muscles belong to earth, blood to water, body temperature to fire, and respiration to wind; the human body is a combination of these four elements; and death occurs when the causal relations combined in union disintegrate and return to the original four elements. (Kudoˉ 1911, 26–27)

Doctors’ work directly affects people’s lives. Depending on where and how they apply their medical knowledge, they can be either a helping hand saving people’s lives and giving hope, or a tool of militarism leaving marks of brutality behind (Wo˘n and Kim 2017; Cho˘njaeng kwa u˘iryo yulli ko˘mju˘ng ch’ujinhoe 2014). Under any circumstances, the primary objective of medical service and religion should be to save lives; they should not be reduced to instrumental ways and means for other purposes. However, this was not the case in colonial Korea. In order to facilitate its rule over Korea the Japanese Government-General was willing to make use of medicine and religion, and co-opt the Japanese and Korean elite who had reputations for expertise in those areas, to implement its colonial policies.

Upon learning of the effects of the social services that Christians provided in Korea, especially medical services, the Japanese Government-General of Korea attempted to leverage medical services in a way that would bolster its rule over Korea. After the backlash of the March First Movement, the Japanese colonial government shifted the tenor of its policy by explicitly adopting the policy of Cultural Rule and, by tactfully using religion, sought to influence the spirituality of the Korean people. For example, pointing out the ills of the previous Choso˘n dynasty brought forth by its patriarchal Confucian culture, the Japanese pressed the Korean people to accept Japan and its culture, which they claimed would protect Korean women, who, as wives and daughters-in-law, had long suffered from the tyranny of husbands and mothers-in-law.

Religion and medicine share common ground in curing the body and mind,

and human beings are bound to rely on their medical and religious practitioners for expertise and council. On the one hand, the Japanese colonial regime worked hard to convince the Korean people of the superiority of Japanese civilization by granting medical benefits. On the other hand, the Japanese colonialists were also critical of the backwardness of Korean religions and made every effort to offer medical and religious prescriptions for improving Korean bodies and minds, thereby infusing into Korean people the idea of “Japan and Korea are one body” (Naisen ittai 内鮮一体).

The Science of Gynecology and Buddhist Activities 

Kudoˉ’s Views on the Science of Gynecology and His Zen Practice

While studying modern medicine in Germany, Kudoˉ Takeki specialized in clinical obstetrics and gynecology, a branch of applied medicine. He understood the science of gynecology as having a “special status” in medicine. He believed that the science of gynecology was not merely for the treatment of uterine disease or helping childless women conceive. For Kudoˉ, it was an all-encompassing business that studied everything about women throughout their life cycle—from infancy, youth, marriage, middle age, to old age. That was why he called this branch of medicine “Fujin kagaku” 婦人科學 (“gyno-sciences”) rather than “Fujin byoˉgaku” 婦人病學 (“the study of women’s diseases”) in the sense that it also addresses overall physical welfare, including hygiene and healthcare, of women and not just the treatment of their diseases (Kudoˉ 1940, 10–11). Immediately after the Russo-Japanese War, Korea had no training center for midwives or sanitary facilities to speak of, and women were of very low social status. Those with medical knowledge hailing from Japan

like Kudoˉ were of high value in Korea to both the colonial government and the Korean people.

It is not difficult to see that the speech and writings of learned people with scientific knowledge would have had great impact in colonial Korea, and not only in medicine. Patients can be expected to be more psychologically stable and recover more quickly from physical or mental illnesses if they completely trust their doctors and follow their instructions. In other words, “A doctor is the skipper of a boat moving from the harbor of disease to the harbor of health. . . All the passengers (the patients) have to do is to trust the skipper and board the boat with confidence in him” (Kudoˉ 1927b, 29). Kudoˉ was more than a doctor who was committed to medical examination and treatment at Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital. Unlike his colleagues, he wrote almost 300 scholarly works and articles, including some books, and gained significant influence in colonial Korea by utilizing his authority with the

Figure 1.

Kudoˉ Takeki holding a model of the female genitourinary system and a stethoscope

Source: Choˉsen, no. 7 (September 1908, 21)

press. The topics of his accounts and writings went well beyond his specialization, women’s medical care, to many other areas—even to the assessment of and making recommendations on colonial Korea’s society, culture, and history. In the same vein, the administrators of the colony eventually demanded and forced the “patients,” the Korean people, to place complete trust in the diagnoses and prescriptions of the “doctor,” Japan.

Kudoˉ’s medical knowledge and the policy of the colonial government were well suited to each other. With regard to the issue of causes and prevention of crime, he studied crimes committed by women through “special favors” from the director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Government-General of Korea and his subordinates. From the viewpoint of eugenics, he advocated abortion, birth control, and childbirth prohibition (Kudoˉ 1933, 10). He also insisted that “a sterilization law” be enacted in order to forestall crime (Kudoˉ 1930, 21–25). There can be no denying that Kudoˉ deeply involved himself in women’s issues and crime committed by women in the name of “clinical opinion” (Keijoˉ Nippoˉ, April 23, 1938).

Kudoˉ diagnosed mariticide committed by Choso˘n women as a crime unique to Choso˘n.^[2] He pointed out that the source of the “disease” could be found in the way marriages were made in Choso˘n and in Korean social manners and customs that disregarded women. In addition, he designated diseases caused by what he saw to be the “local factors” of Choso˘n society as “ethnic diseases” (Kudoˉ 1933, 207, 211, and 219). Again, for Kudoˉ, the way Koreans married with disregard to women’s physiology and the social environment were the driving force, either directly or indirectly, behind the phenomenon of mariticide. As a consequence, Kudoˉ’s remedy for perfecting social institutions and the problem of the social environment was the “distribution of knowledge of women’s physiology.” Ultimately, this meant that the Korean people should accept Japan’s civilization in terms of medical service. More importantly, Kudoˉ’s radical diagnosis that mariticide was a crime unique to Choso˘n helped produce and disseminate the perception that Korea was a country of female criminality.^[3]

Kudoˉ’s views on crime in Korea were based on his understanding that a brutal act like mariticide was a case of Choso˘n society reaping what it had sowed. Kudoˉ took seriously the relationship between cause and effect, and this partly stemmed from his scientific approach by which he, as a doctor, endeavored to find the cause of a disease beneath its symptoms. More than that, however, he held a strong belief in Buddhist karma. “Women tend to be atavistic physically and mentally,” he maintained. “Their potentiality can be awakened to realization when met with appropriate conditions in the environment” (Kudoˉ 2016, 247). Mariticide in colonial Korea arose from the manners and customs of Choso˘n society.

The law of cause and effect becomes null and void when a cause ceases to be, leading the effect to vanish as well. Kudoˉ was clearly determined to exterminate this “heredity” of Korea (Kudoˉ 1908, 20–21). He went so far as to say that “the ironbound law of cause and effect is my worship” (Kudoˉ 2024, 11). In fact, he was also a koji (居士), a Buddhist layman, in a lineage of Zen Buddhism belonging to the Rinzai (Ch. Linji 臨濟宗) School, which encouraged its followers to attain the state where they can confront death in a calm manner, without fear and obsession, even in the face of pain and death from disease—Yamai sanmai 病氣三昧, the perfect state of spiritual concentration and stillness even in sickness (Kudoˉ 1927a, 27–29).

Kudoˉ had tremendous respect for Mori Oˉ gai 森鷗外 (1862–1922), an army surgeon and a koji who made a great mark in the modern Japanese literary community; Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902), progenitor of cytopathology and a notable politician; and Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長 (1730–1801), a pediatrician who remained faithful to his principal occupation while still making a remarkable contribution to the development of Japan’s nativist studies (kokugaku 國學). As can be shown in these examples, Kudoˉ’s role models were doctors who distinguished themselves not only in medicine but also in other areas. It was also a kind of selfdefense. Accustomed to the habit of observation, which he acquired while studying medicine, Kudoˉ took great interest in many aspects of society and nature (Kudoˉ 1915, 112–114). Gifted in painting and calligraphy, he developed his skills to the extent that he was able to submit works to the Choso˘n Art Exhibition.^[4] He took particular interest in composing poems in Chinese and in other foreign languages. He was once the head of the research department of the Choso˘n Esperanto Institute (Kudoˉ 1922, 51).

Going one step further, he wrote prescriptons for the various religions, including Confucianism, Christianity, and Buddhism. For example, for the future of Korean Buddhism, he asserted that koji should play more important roles as lay devotees and that Buddhist thought should be disseminated more widely (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1928, 11–14). In addition to being a gynecologist, Kudoˉ had the ambition of becoming a doctor who could “heal humans” in a broad sense through his interest in every aspect of them—scientific, historical, and cultural.^[5] From the standpoint of the colonial state, a figure such as Kudoˉ, who was an authority in medicine and accomplished in many different fields, must have been very useful for colonial governance.

An adherent of Zen Buddhism, Kudoˉ was active under the koji name “Tansetsu” 擔雪 besides his usual appellations of “doctor” or “director.”^[6] He practiced Zen at a branch temple of the Myoˉshinji 妙心寺 School of Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism in Changsa-dong, Seoul. Nakamura Kentaroˉ 中村健太郞 (1883–?), who came from the same city as Kudoˉ, refers to Kudoˉ and his Zen activities as follows:

The Sesshin Assembly 攝心會 was held at the Changsa-dong Branch Temple of Myoˉshinji, from the first through the fifth of every month. I attended this gathering every month to practice Zen. On Sundays, we together chanted the Blue Cliff Record (J. Hekiganroku 碧巖錄) and the Record of Linji (臨濟錄, C. Línjì-lù, J. Rinzairoku). Another gathering called the Mumon Assembly (J. Mumonkai 無門會) was held outside the temple once every month. Eminent people participated in these gatherings, including Tachibana Koichiroˉ (Nakamura spelled the name “立花小次郞,” but this seems to be a misspelling of 立花小一郞—authors), army lieutenant general; Shiroˉzu Awashi 白水淡, army major general; Abe Mitsuie 阿部充家, president of the Keijoˉ nippoˉ; Sasaki Shihoˉshi 佐々木四方志, director of Hanso˘ng Hospital; Kudoˉ, director of Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital; Fukami Kiyoshi 深水淸, editor-in-chief of the Hanso˘ng Sinbo, Oˉ mura Tomonojoˉ 大村友之丞, correspondent of the Asahi Shimbun; Oˉba Joˉtaroˉ 大庭讓太郞, head of the Seoul Branch of Nippon Life Insurance; and Watanabe Teiichiroˉ 渡邊定一郞, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the meantime, the meditations of Zen prospered, as shown by Master Shaku Soˉen 釋宗演, abbot of Engakuji Temple in Kamakura, who attended with Master Mamiya Eijuˉ 間宮英宗. Among them, Fukami Kiyoshi, Sasaki Sihoˉsi, Kudoˉ Takeki, and Oˉ mura Tomonojoˉ eagerly attended both the Sesshin Assembly and the Sunday Lectures without a single absence. Fukami was conferred the koji name “Tannen” 湛然; Sasaki, “Motsuan” 物庵; Kudoˉ, “Tansetsu” 擔雪; and Oˉ mura, “Suiun” 翠雲. I was conferred the koji name of “Sanshoˉ” 三笑. (Nakamura 1969, 65–66)^[7]

A sacred place for the Zen practice of the Rinzai School was not opened in Seoul until Gotoˉ Zuigan 後藤瑞巖 (1879–1965) arrived at the Seoul branch of the Myoˉshinji School as its second director. This happened after the wind of Zen began to blow more strongly when Shaku Soˉen 釋宗演 (1860–1919), the abbot of Engakuji Temple in Kamakura, Japan, undertook a preaching tour in Seoul in 1912 upon the invitation of Governor-General of Korea Terauchi Masatake 寺內正毅 (1852–1919) and Police Commissioner Akashi Motojiroˉ 明石元次郞 (1864–1919) (Oˉ mura 1925, 7; Nakamura 1969, 192). At this temple, Kudoˉ practiced Zen under the direction of Gotoˉ Zuigan, who had been taught by Shaku Soˉen. It seems that Kudoˉ had been granted his koji name “Tansetsu”^[8] by him. Many of those who were with him in the practice of Zen meditation were doctors, journalists, and military officers—members of the colonial ruling class (See Appendix 1). Kudoˉ practiced Zen meditation and discipline at the Mumon and Sesshin assemblies and attended the Sunday Lectures. In so doing, he formed a strong bond with the ruling class of colonial Korea. The Soˉtoˉshuˉ School 曹洞宗 and the Rinzai School were two of the most active Japanese Zen Buddhist sects in Korea during the colonial period. Their cooperation in the plundering and colonization of Korea and cooperation with the Japanese for the war effort are already well known (Ichinohe 2013; Victoria 2009; 2013).

Shaku Soˉen, who exerted a deep influence on the Buddhist world in colonial Korea as well as on Kudoˉ, saw sacrifice as a manifestation of enlightenment when he addressed the question of the connection between Buddhism and war. With regard to the Buddhist law of cause and consequence, he asserted that “somebody is poor, and somebody is unhappy. . . However, to whom can we complain of our misery? Nobody else but ourselves,” thus leaving room for justifying socioeconomic inequality in the colony (Hur 1999; Ichinohe 2013). Kudoˉ gave a typical Buddhist phrasing to this mindset: “discrimination equals equality, and equality equals discrimination” (Kudoˉ 1924a, 2), implying that discrimination and discontent among colonial Koreans could be overcome by enlightening Zen practice.

It is also worth remembering that “the primary purposes” of the dissemination of Zen Buddhism, “excluding funerals and Buddhist services,” were to “guide the soldiers and military policemen in the cultivation of their minds through sitting meditation, introducing believers to reverence for the emperor and the importance of the defense of the country, and (if possible) opening Japanese languages schools, thereby promoting the koˉminka—Japanization—of the Korean people” (Ichinohe 2013, 118). As a Zen training community, the Seoul Branch of the Myoˉshinji School and Rinzai Zen Buddhism in Changsa-dong served as a center not only for fostering religious friendship among the ruling elites of colonial Korea from political, financial, media, and judicial circles, but also for affirming cooperation with colonial policies (See Table 1). As for Kudoˉ, his gynecological study on Korean women who murdered their husbands was made possible by friendship and support from one particular member of this community, Matsudera Takeo 松寺竹雄, then Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Government-General.^[9]

Kudoˉ took a deep interest in the ethnic study of East Asian peoples, an undertaking which he thought had global demographic significance, and believed that the study of ethnic women groups was essential because they constituted the “producers of national subjects.” He conducted research into issues relevant to five million married Korean women, such as clothing, marriage customs, authorized prostitution, and so on, in comparison with their counterparts in Japan. After his arrival at Hanso˘ng Hospital in Seoul, Kudoˉ conducted close examinations of Korean women’s physical size and features, including their pubic hair, for almost three years. The results of his research are double-edged: while he claimed to discover many common traits between Koreans and Japanese women in terms of mythology, ethnicity, and history, he also pointed to many signs of “barbarity” among Koreans, attributable to what he deemed as abnormal and pathological “Confucian dogmatism.”^[10]

What was the reason behind Kudoˉ’s commitment to expanding knowledge about the health and hygiene of Korean women by examining female-specific subjects, such as their body, gynecological diseases, pregnancy, and puerperium? He believed that the fortunes of a nation desiring strength and wealth depended on the reproduction of its national population, the responsibility for which lay with women as producers of its population. Women should be relegated no longer to the role of submissive wife and mother under traditional Confucian patriarchy, but instead had to assume a proactive role as producers and educators of healthy national subjects. Therefore, on behalf of Koreans “totally devoid of childbirth knowledge and nursing service, like barbarians,” he advocated the establishment of training centers for childbirth nurses and affiliated childbirth care centers in order to reduce the number of victims of death in childbirth (Kudoˉ 1908a, 44–46).  

The imperial authorities tended to pursue a pro-natal population policy based on radical eugenic assumptions so as to make the most of colonial subjects as human resources, and also tended to demand of them strong physical and mental power (Fujino 2000, 4). Kudoˉ’s gynecological knowledge about Korean women was to be mobilized to serve imperial Japan’s policy toward its colony. Under this policy, Korean women were to emerge as important colonial subjects in need of co-option and incorporation into imperial Japan’s policies. Kudoˉ believed Buddhism could serve as a means for winning over Korean women, and suggested at a meeting presided over by Yu Man’gyo˘m 兪萬兼 (1889–1944; Head of the Religion Section, Bureau of Education, in the Government-General) that koji and lay Buddhists like himself could better contribute to proselytization among Korean people than politicians or Buddhist clerics (Kudoˉ, 1928: 11–12).

In addition to healing bodily illnesses as a doctor, Kudoˉ Takeki proposed immersion in the pursuit of the Way of Zen or koan as a way of healing afflictions and dispelling deluded thinking. Rather than striving in other ways to overcome afflictions and deluded thinking, he emphasized enlightenment through Zen by focusing the mind to a point (sesshin 攝心) to avoid distraction. You cannot expect to have light in a pitch-dark cave, regardless of how hard you try to drive the darkness away, as if all you have to do in such a situation is simply light a lamp. Kudoˉ achieved repose in body and mind through sitting meditation (Kudoˉ 1928b, 27–28; 1928c, 34). As indicated in the fact that “meditation” and “medicine” share the same etymology (Latin “medi”: to heal), he seems to have considered sitting in meditation to be an act of healing body and mind. He saw genuine happiness in “a state of mind transcending the distinction between equality and discrimination and desiring nothing but pursuing one’s calling” (Kudoˉ, 1925b: 37). Yet, his Buddhiststyle reductionism to a particular state of mind may well have lead him to overlook other structural problems of colonial Korea that warranted resistance, as well as a spirit of independence on the part of Koreans.

Serving the Country through Medicine and Cultivating the “Mind Field” in the Colony Kudoˉ Takeki graduated from Nagasaki Medical College and worked as an assistant for Hamada Gentatsu 濱田玄達 (1855–1915), who founded the Japanese Association for Gynecological Science. After his arrival in Korea immediately following the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Kudoˉ’s activities in the colony consisted of three main areas: medical service, his social role as an elite Japanese resident in the colony, and Buddhist propagation and literary activities. 

First, as a competent doctor and director of a medical institution, Kudoˉ enjoyed a high reputation and was popular, even among Korean women in Seoul. Moreover, he demonstrated skills in the management of the hospital, attracting as many Korean women patients as possible, who were otherwise resistant to alien medical treatment, by issuing voucher tickets that guaranteed a half-price discount for diagnosis and medicine prescription. Still, since modern medical facilities remained largely inaccessible to Koreans at this time, the primary patients at his hospital were Japanese and other foreign women (Ch’oe and Kim 2015, 676).

Kudoˉ Takeki served as an official at the Keijoˉ Medical Association,^[11] which was organized in 1905 mostly by Japanese doctors who practiced in Seoul, and later assumed its presidency twice (Sakai 1932). The association worked with the Government-General, and the requests for cooperation from the Police Department are especially notable. For example, when scarlet fever, a nation-wide infectious disease, was prevalent in 1915 while Kudoˉ was president of the association, Police Commissioner Tachibana Koichiroˉ 立花小一郎 (1861–1929) sent an official request to the association for cooperation in preventing its further spread and for other assistance, proving that the two organizations had a close relationship (Sakai 1932, 33–36). Along with Kudoˉ, Tachibana was also one of those involved in Zen practice and discipline at Myoˉshinji, and they frequently conversed with each other (Yi 2014, 151). Kudoˉ worked hard to “serve his country through medicine” 醫療報國 when he assumed the presidency of the Kyo˘nggi Province Medical Association in 1941 to assist in rendering medical service on the home front (Maeil sinbo, Nov. 27, 1941). Moreover, Kudoˉ was a prolific writer and proactive promoter of knowledge about gynecological science by publishing continuously in magazines and newspapers and by joining lectures and public meetings on health and current topics, as will be described below.

Second, as an elite Japanese resident in Korea, Kudoˉ had been active even before annexation (1910), serving as a member of the voluntary Association for Japanese Residents in Seoul (Keijoˉ kyoryuˉmindan 京城居留民團). After the association was disbanded, he was again active as a member of the Association for Civilian Friends in Seoul (Keijoˉ min’yuˉkai 京城民友會), organized to “promote friendship and the study of current affairs” among former members of the residents association and other local civilian notables (Oˉ mura 1922, 294–298). Its members included those who engaged in Zen practice at Myoˉshinji Temple, like Oˉ mura Tomonojoˉ 大村友之丞 and Fukami Kiyoshi 深水淸. Thereafter, Kudoˉ served as a representative on behalf of the Kitayonekura-choˉ 北米倉町 district in Seoul (Keijoˉfu 京城府) (Keijoˉ Shinbunsha 1936, 63). In a sense, as an influential Japanese residing in Korea, Kudoˉ was compelled to cooperate with the Government-General. It is also true that, drawing upon his network of leading figures of the colonial administration, he consolidated his authority and presence as a doctor. Probably the most interesting figure in Kudoˉ’s network was Kaneko Kentaroˉ 金子堅太郎 (1853–1942), his father-in-law. A secretary to Resident-General Itoˉ Hirobumi 伊藤博文 (1841–1909), Kaneko contacted President Roosevelt of the United States during the Russo-Japanese War, helping Japan’s war effort (Himaraya Sanjin 1909, 66; Kaneko Kentaroˉ 1924, 5–6).^[12] It was against this

Figure 2. Kudo- Takeki’s Calligraphy13

backdrop that Kudoˉ judged Itoˉ Hirobumi to be a “great man,” and after Itoˉ’s assassination, proposed sending money in the name of the association in answer to the

call for contributions to build Pangmunsa博文寺, the Prince Itoˉ Memorial Temple (Sakai 1931, 147).^[13]He was also a relative of Tokutomi Sohoˉ 徳富蘇峰 (1863–1957), who came from the same hometown and was heavily engaged in journalism and philosophy (Kudoˉ 1930a, 30–32).

Third, in terms of Buddhist propagation and literary activities, Kudoˉ Takeki engaged in Buddhist literary activities with such figures as Nakamura Kentaroˉ, editor of Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ (Korean Buddhism), Abbot Hanayama Daigi 華山大義 (1891–?) of the Seoul Branch of the Myoˉshinji School of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, and Maeda Noboru 前田昇, a promoter of the Choˉsen Buddhist Conference 朝鮮佛敎大會. He built friendships with people involved in Buddhism through the Tanpankai Assembly 擔板會 and the Maeil Sinbo (December 29, 1920) Keimon Assembly 桂門會, most of whom were Buddhist

koji. Social gatherings such as these included leading figures from the colonial ruling class and Buddhist koji, which in turn says a great deal about the nature of colonial cultural rule. Kudoˉ wanted to establish in Seoul a semblance of the Medical Artists Association in Paris in an effort to provide mental relief for doctors overworked from having to deal with patients every day. He organized the Keian Assembly 桂杏會 with people in the medical profession to cultivate body and soul and held a meeting once a month. This organization had a Buddhist leaning, and Kudoˉ

Figure 3. Tanpankai Assembly 擔板會

Source: Cho^-sen Bukkyo^-, no. 74 (July 1930, Inner cover)

wrote of its purpose: “In conformity with the natural state of the mind of human beings, [the gathering] considers it most important to linger on the boundaries of brush and ink and, transcending technology and the current of the times, for the illumination of quiescence, complete brightness, truth and falsehood, and light and darkness, to become the mountains, streams, clouds, and water, to pause before the scenic beauty of the primordial void, and to stroll in unfathomable tranquility” (Kudoˉ 1925, 38–39).

In an effort to foster reconc iliation between Korea and Japan, the Government-General of Korea, under the banner of Cultural Rule, was willing on the one hand to support medical services for Koreans in order to win them over, and on the other hand supported religious propagation among Koreans so as to edify their mind and spirit. Medicine and religion could be a legitimate means to control body and mind, respectively. For example, the “Mind-Field Cultivation Movement” shows how a Japanese Buddhist propagation endeavor was geared to promoting collaboration between Korean and Japanese Buddhist communities, as described below. 

In the 1930s, the Japanese started the “Mind-Field Cultivation Movement” in a bid to enhance the moral education of the Korean people through religion. As can be seen from the centrality of the concept of the “mind field” (J. shinden 心田) or “mind ground” (J. shinchi 心地) to Buddhism, the Buddhists, among others, were most receptive to it, conceivably as part of a Buddhism promotion movement. The movement was planned and implemented with strong support from Governor-General Saitoˉ Makoto 斎藤実 (1858–1936). The cultivation of the mind-field of the Korean people by way of Buddhism was regarded as “a boon to Japan’s reconciliation policy.” For this reason, the Choˉsen Buddhist Association was organized with Japanese Buddhism as the central force, and it worked hard to promote the movement (Nakamura 1969, 94–96). Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 朝鮮佛敎, the mouthpiece of the Choˉsen Buddhist Association, carried a monthly “table for daily self-reflection” for the cultivation of mind and recommended that its readers review it themselves on a daily basis:

As part of the Mind-Field Cultivation Movement, a program called “Morning Training Session” (朝の修養會 Asa no Shuˉyoˉkai) was held under the instruction of Hanayama Daigi, director of the Korean missionary work of the Rinzai School, at the branch temple of Myoˉshinji Temple (located in Changsa-dong, Seoul). Kudoˉ Takeki regularly attended and performed sitting meditation and sutra recitation for two hours starting at five in the morning (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 1935, 2; 1935b, 2). The publishing company Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 朝鮮佛敎社 also invited Zen master Gotoˉ Zuigan, the renowned president of Hanazono University in Kyoˉto (popularly known as “Rinzai University”), and held a lecture meeting on the development of

Table 1. Daily Self-Reflection Checklist for Mind-Field Cultivation of the Cho^-sen Association^[14]

Moral Discipline	Checklist for Today’s Reflection (Please read this sheet two or three times.)	Mark ◎ when you have done it well. Mark ○ when you have done only a little. Mark × when you have not done it at all. Try to get more ◎ and fewer ○ and ×.
Do not neglect ancestor worship today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.
Do not waste your money and time today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.
Do not complain or grumble today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.
Do not lie today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.
Do not get angry today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.
Do something good for others today.		Check what you have done at the end of the month.

Figure 4. Cover of Cho^-sen Bukkyo^- (left)^[15] and Daily Self-Reflection Checklist (right)

   Cover of ^{Cho-sen Bukkyo-} 22 (Feb. 1926)            Inside cover of Cho^-sen Bukkyo^- 121 (June 1936)

14₁₅

the mind-field (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1935b, 6). In accordance with the MindField Cultivation Movement, the publishing company established an in-house Self-Discipline Department to help expand the movement. It cooperated with the Government-General’s drive to influence the general mind-set of the Korean people with an emphasis on the cultivation of posture, discipline of the abdomen, establishment of conviction, and especially sitting meditation, as well as through lectures, or “the cultivation method for the ear,” for the general public (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1935a, 8).

Following the Choˉsen Buddhist Conference, the establishment of which was backed by the Japanese colonial government’s policy to nurture Koreans favorable to Japanese rule in the religious community as implemented in the 1920s under Governor-General Saitoˉ, the Choˉsen Buddhist Association was inaugurated as a corporation in 1925 by, among others, Nakamura Kentaroˉ and Kobayashi Genroku 小林源六.^[16] Nakamura was responsible for the actual, working-level business of the One People Association (Doˉminkai 同民會), an organization geared toward the reconciliation of Japan and Korea. Kobayashi was running a department store, Choˉjiya (丁子屋), with Buddhism as a guiding principle, in the neighborhood of Namdaemun. Through many programs, particularly one to send talented Korean youngsters to Japan to study, the association helped produce pro-Japanese Koreans. The main program of the association was the large convention called the Choˉsen Buddhist Conference (which had the same name as the above-mentioned organization), which was held in 1929 and brought together leading figures from both Japanese and Korean Buddhist communities. The event was organized in the first instance to make more Koreans pro-Japanese through interactions among influential people in the Buddhist communities from Korea and Japan; a second objective was to affiliate Korean Buddhism with Japanese Buddhism; and a third was to propagandize the policies of the Japanese Government-General of Korea. Kudoˉ Takeki worked as a member of the preparatory committee for this convention (Sasaki 1930, 19–25; Nakamura 1969, 92–97 and 164–173; Kim 2003, 104–106). Founded in May 1924, Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ advocated Saitoˉ Makoto’s religious and cultural policy of “Ordering the disordered world and comforting people; making the benign light of the Buddha pervade throughout the whole world” 或齊民安 佛光普照. Together with his brother Kudoˉ Shigeo 工藤重雄, Kudoˉ Takeki lent his support to serve his country through medicine and religion. Kudoˉ engaged in a wide range of Buddhist literary activities, contributing articles to Kongoˉ 金剛,^[17] which was advertised as the only Zen magazine on the Korean peninsula, and the mouthpiece of the Soˉtoˉshuˉ School for propagation in Korea.

Kudoˉ was critical of the Confucian cultural conception of women as property. In contrast, he regarded Buddhism as “a religion benign to women” and recommended it to them (Ch’oe and Kim 2016, 176, 198). To a significant degree, health is to illness in medicine as transcendental wisdom is to ignorance in Buddhism. By the same logic, ignorance, or the foolishness arising from afflictions and delusion, is the source of pain from illness. Kudoˉ did more than merely render treatments at a hospital. Drawing on his sympathy with Japan’s reconciliation policy in the colony, his absolute authority and knowledge as a doctor, and his sense of Japanese cultural superiority, he attempted through the Buddhist faith to “heal” the “stupid ills” of the Korean people that derived from their religious spirit. To the ruling class and the managers of the colony, the minds of the colonial Koreans were something to be cultivated, and Dr. Kudoˉ cooperated in the business of making their mind-field more amenable to Japan’s policies for control of the colony.

When associated with the ideal role of women, cultivation of the mind-field was meant to break free of the traditional Confucian image of women based on the key familial virtue of filial piety. Based instead on loyalty to the state, women’s roles were to be redefined according to their status as national subjects rather than as daughters-in-law, wives, or mothers. To fulfill their duty of loyalty to the empire, at the apex of which stood the Tennoˉ himself, women were newly assigned the duty of producing healthy and loyal children (Hong Yanghu˘i 2000, 368). Kudoˉ’s production and propagation of medical knowledge and related activities for Korean women was carried out under this overarching Japanese imperial framework.

Medical Service for Women and the Kannon Faith

Medical Service, Buddhism, and Women in the Colony

The Japanese Government-General in Korea pursued a two-pronged approach to colonial rule with respect to women: the advancement of medical science and medical service, and the promotion of Buddhism. Korean women had long suffered as a result of the prevailing idea that men were superior to women, and they were more naturally receptive to Buddhism, which had been suppressed for hundreds of years under the ruling ideology of Confucianism. As a result, Buddhism was widely perceived as a religion for women. In the invisible framework of colonial rule, which was propped up by medical service, Buddhism, and women, Kudoˉ Takeki must have been considered by colonial bureaucrats as the most appropriate person for education, propagation, and edification programs related to the colonial policy of “treating all human beings with impartiality and fairness” (Isshi doˉjin 一視同仁) and “reconciliation of Japan and Korea.”

When Kudoˉ arrived in Korea in 1906 on invitation as chief of the Gynecology Department, he saw that Korean women were in a “miserable situation” and felt “a kind of indignation” about it. Kudoˉ was perplexed by the wealth of crimes committed by Korean women, such as husband murder, murder by poison, arson, and suicide, and attributed them to Korean customs of early marriage. Some couples even entered into marriage at the age of five or six, and made a pitiable scene of fighting over the size of cookies they received from their parents (Kudo ˉ 1908a, 41). There was a number of schools for female entertainers in Korea, but Kudoˉ observed that there were no professional midwives at the time, and proposed to Fujita Tsuguakira 藤田嗣章 (1854–1941), medical director to the Yi Royal Family and concurrently director of the Hospital of the Japanese Government-General of Korea, the establishment of a school of midwifery. He also published a book on female personal hygiene, Women’s Regimen (Puin u˘i choso˘p 婦人의 調攝) in 1912 in vernacular Korean (Kudoˉ 1908, 20–21; 1937, 22).

This book, published under the auspices of the former emperor of Korea who was mindful of the “untimely deaths” of Korean women due to “their lack of hygiene awareness,” consists of two sections: a discussion of gynecological diseases and a discussion of obstetrics (Kudoˉ 1912, “Preface”). In this book, Kudoˉ provides basic explanations, accompanied by diagrams, about women’s genital organs, menstrual and uterus-related diseases, the pelvis, pregnancy, and childbirth. Starting from the general structure of the woman’s body and its physiology, he moves on to specifics such as women’s diseases and the sequence of pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium. Kudoˉ asserts that women need to devote extra “care and precaution” to their health compared to men, and that neglect of this duty will cause not only bodily diseases but also mental problems like hypersensitivity, mental disorder, and hysteria. In particular, he warns against excessive anger and sorrow during pregnancy to avoid

miscarriages (Kudoˉ 1912, 18 and 148).                   Figure 5. Women’s Skeleton

In the context of Women’s Regime, Kudoˉ frequently uses the term chosim 操心, which in a Buddhist context means “hold on to a genuine mind, clearing it of illusion,” thus connecting his health regime for women to Buddhist teaching. Parallel to Zen practice, he encouraged Korean women to break free from mental suffering like the depression and fury experienced in the aftermath of pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium to attain a state of plain mind (p’yo˘ngsangsim 平常心) through meditation and concentration. It was Buddhism that Kudoˉ recommended as a remedial religion for curing mind-derived diseases, and he believed in the efficacy of Zen practice in cultivating the mind, as shown in his deep commitment to the MindField Cultivation Movement.

But this interest in Korean women evinced by colonial officials and devoted Buddhist laymen Source: Women’s Regimen (1912), page 5

living in colonial Korea like Kudoˉ was not merely because they wanted to shed the “light of civilization” on them. A tacit calculation was at work here, with the underlying motive of leveraging Korean women as the primary vehicle of propaganda for colonial policy and the propagation of Buddhism. It is important to bear in mind that Kudoˉ’s effort to enlighten and assimilate Korean women was an integral part of the Japanese project to promote friendship and reconciliation between the two peoples, thus contributing to the Japanese colonial agenda. To this end, exchanges between influential figures of the Japanese and Korean Buddhist communities were encouraged so as to cultivate Korean sympathizers and collaborators for Japanese colonial policies. The Choˉsen Buddhist Conference (later, Choˉsen Buddhist Association) was organized in September 1920 to propagate the GovernmentGeneral’s policy,^[18] and Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ, its mouthpiece, was first published in May 1924 to promote the activities of Japanese Buddhist sects and the unity of Japanese and Korean Buddhism. Just at that time, the One People Association was organized and held its inauguration ceremony on April 15, 1924 with the purpose of “completely implementing the policy of the reconciliation of Japan and Korea.” The association’s mission was to “propagate Korea’s good morals and manners, promote its culture, and raise the standard of living” and “make contact with organizations for the cultivation of the mind for their assistance” (Panmin kyumyo˘ngwi 2008, 372–373). These purported objectives make it clear that the Choˉsen Buddhist Association and the One People Association were closely connected.

Nakamura Kentaroˉ, editor and publisher of Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ, practiced Zen with Kudoˉ and observed that the most pressing issue in Korea was the “lack of medication and midwives.” He emphasized that “Buddhists [are recommended to] become doctors, pharmacists, midwives, or nurses” and to exert themselves to eliminate physical illnesses and pain as well as to redeem their souls (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1925, 1). Be it spiritual or material, Buddhist practitioners themselves must have viewed these acts as both charitable and virtuous. Colonial bureaucrats and their collaborators, however, utilized and provided medical science and services as a benefit to help bring Buddhism and Korean women, both of which had long been sidelined, into conformity with colonial rule. For example, a Buddhist organization of young intellectuals, the Young Men’s Buddhist Association of Keijoˉ Medical College, screened a movie and hosted lectures on “medicine and Buddhism” that were more accessible to the public (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1926, 47).

Now let us examine the relationship between Buddhism and women with regard to the “spiritual merger” of the people of Japan and Korea through Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ, the mouthpiece of the Choˉsen Buddhist Association. Yamada Tamada 山田玉田 (?–1961) of the Oˉbaku School 黃檗宗 wanted to make “an effort for Japanese and Korean people to cooperate and work together in one accord in the future so as to be able to promote happiness in Asia.” He also asked women to focus on their feminine virtues of love, affection, and chastity through their faith in Buddha (Yamada 1925, 37–39). Shiˉo Benkyoˉ 椎尾辨匡 (1876–1971), a monk from the Joˉdoshuˉ School 淨土宗, regarded women as “the basis of society and the state” and, noticing “the habit of believing in Buddhism” of Korean women, asserted that it should be encouraged and further “guided” (Shiˉo 1938, 194–201). Declaring that Buddhism was “a religion respecting women,” he emphasized that their power was indispensable to national development and that Buddhism should “enlighten women.” He also pointed out the “lack of women’s education” and “neglect of female education” as the fundamental defects of education at the time (Shiˉo 1938, 194–201). Ōtani Koˉzui 大谷光瑞 (1876–1948) from the Joˉdo Shinshuˉ School 淨土眞宗 introduced Queen Śriˉmaˉlaˉ 勝鬘夫人, heroine of the Śriˉmaˉlaˉdeviˉ Siṃhanaˉda Suˉtra (Ōtani 1925, 46–48). Citing the fact that Prince Shoˉtoku, who is credited as the founder of Japanese Buddhism, annotated the sutra himself, he lauded Queen Śriˉmaˉlaˉ’s exposition and wisdom. This sutra is considered one of the sources of the argument for women’s ability to achieve Buddhahood, and he must have cited it to encourage women to make greater efforts in their practice of Buddhism. Also, as a way of promoting Buddhism to women, he probably meant to say that, despite their being treated as inferior in patriarchal colonial Korean society, Buddhism recognizes women as true human beings.

Under so-called “Cultural Rule” in the wake of the March First Movement, Japanese policy makers and their supporters saw in Buddhism, a religion common to Koreans and Japanese, a possibility for spiritual unity between the two peoples. They assumed that Korean women were very receptive to Buddhism. Under the professed goals of religious and cultural edification, Korean women became the objects of proselytization, education, and assimilation. As a prominent supporter of this colonial agenda, Kudoˉ cast himself as a missionary of modern civilization through modern medical knowledge and practice to be spread among Korean women whom he believed had long suffered from a lack of health knowledge and childbirth aids, with many meeting untimely deaths.

Medical Service and the Kannon Faith

Kudoˉ utilized the image of the bodhisattva in drawing parallels to physicians. Thus, the physicians’ professional goal of curing humans suffering from disease and securing heaven-endowed longevity was identical to a bodhisattva’s vow (Kudoˉ, 1912: 239). Though he was doomed to use a “demonic hand” (with his scalpel) on women’s bodies, he endeavored to remove the pain of disease with a “bodhisattva’s mind.” He had deep sympathy for women, whom he thought had more delicate and hence more vulnerable bodies, and tried to equate his role with that of a bodhisattva. 

Kudoˉ Takeki was a believer in the Kannon faith and introduced the sculptor of the Avalokiteśvara statue he enshrined in his hospital to a dozen or so of his acquaintances. He proudly converted a dedicated Christian to the Kannon faith. As Kudoˉ saw it, Avalokiteśvara represents “the basic substance of [the idea of] the living and Buddha being of the same essence” 生佛一如 and “something that everyone is born with. . . . true-suchness” 眞如. Kudoˉ emphasized the need for introspection into self-nature and mind through Avalokiteśvara. Avalokiteśvara manifests itself in the thirty-three corresponding bodies 三十三應身 to meet the needs of sentient beings; moreover “all the appearances of everything in the whole universe are the bodhisattva’s incarnation.” To Kudoˉ, “everything that we encounter in the mornings and evenings is the means by which Avalokiteśvara delivers us by extending her hand of great loving kindness and compassion.” Moreover, he was convinced that “when you pay obeisance to an Avalokiteśvara statue in the mornings and evenings, you can obtain her loving kindness and compassion.” Citing the ten vows and six transferences 十願六向 described in the Thousand Eyes and Hands Suˉtra 千手經, Kudoˉ exhibited his understanding of the Kannon faith and his wish for the liberation of sentient beings from their worldly conditioned existence (Kudoˉ 1928a, 15–17).

Kudoˉ enshrined an Avalokiteśvara statue in the garden of the hospital that he was managing and called the shrine Toˉkoˉ Hermitage 韜光庵.^[19] Through the Avalokiteśvara statue, he wanted to express Buddha’s great vow to “save all beings, regardless of race, and all peoples, free of every discrimination and partiality,” which was also Kudoˉ’s personal aspiration as a doctor.

Amitaˉbha Buddha wants to deliver all those who come to him, while Avalokites´vara takes it as her great aspiration to come herself to those who wish deliverance. Amitaˉbha is passive; Avalokites´vara, active. As a doctor specializing in gynecology for nearly thirty years now, I take pride in not having neglected, with what meager knowledge and experience I have, the treatment and curing of women coming to me complaining of physical pain. However, I’ve often heard from my seniors and friends words of advice that I’ve fallen short of going out of my way to relieve them; I myself know it’s my shortcoming. I hope that this shortcoming of mine will be removed by the great and active aspiration of Avalokites´vara (Kudoˉ 1927, 6).

Kudoˉ’s aspiration is specifically expressed in the fact that he wrote the preface to his Women’s Hygiene, a book he authored to help Korean women maintain health, in Toˉkoˉ Hermitage where the Avalokiteśvara statue was enshrined (Kudoˉ 1928, 8). Basically, Buddhism is a religion of one’s own power where enlightenment is sought through self-effort. However, going beyond individual enlightenment, it is also a religion for the deliverance of sentient beings from suffering by way of “other-power” or reliance on Amitaˉbha or Avalokiteśvara. In the context of the colonial regime, Kudoˉ’s line of thought, “for the deliverance of sentient beings,” can mean that Japan, the colonial ruler, would become a kind of Avalokiteśvara and deliver the groaning Korean people from their suffering. This then leads to the reasoning that Korean men and women can be delivered only through Japan, the colonial ruler. For Kudoˉ, the quintessence of religion was found in settlement in the ultimate bliss of peace and comfort with a life of repaying favor, which he saw as possible only through obeisance to Avalokiteśvara (Kudoˉ, 1928a: 17). In the context of the colonial reality, this too has something to do with the reasoning behind inducing gratitude for and conformity to the colonial regime.

Concerning the science of women, Kudoˉ enumerated the possible causes of

the cruel crime of mariticide committed by Choso˘n women, attributing it to the education level and gynecological diseases of the perpetrators of the crimes and the pronounced sexual urges and physical and mental defects of their victims. However, he believed that what really mattered was the low status of women in patriarchal Choso˘n society and the Choso˘n custom of early marriage. On the basis of the regional incidence of mariticide and the then-prevalent blood type personality theory, which posited that the percentages of the population of the people with different blood types in southern Choso˘n were similar to those in inland Japan, he argued that mariticide was less common in those areas that

Figure 6.

Avalokites´vara statue at To^-ko^-  Hermitage in

Keijo^- Women’s Hospital

Source: Cho^-sen Bukkyo^- 35 (March 1927, Inside cover)

were geographically closer to inland Japan and more common in those areas that were closer to Manchuria (Kudoˉ 1933, 26). By this reasoning, it was easy to draw the conclusion that the Japanese people and culture were superior. This reasoning also allowed for the use of medical service, a benefit of civilization, in spiritual arenas, including religion, under colonial cultural rule. When the religious belief of individuals coincides with the national objective, it can exert great influence.

Buddhism and Kannon faith were, and still are, integral parts of the Japanese people’s long-standing spiritual tradition, and the Japanese colonial regime used them in an effort to turn the Korean people into loyal subjects of imperial Japan and make them spiritually “one body” with the Japanese. This was part of Japan’s militaristic policy. The idea of transcending life and death, as promoted through the Buddhist notions of, among other things in the Buddhist doctrine, “non-self” 無我 and the cycle of transmigration 輪廻, was used to build loyalty to the Japanese emperor. It could be seen as an expression of the same Japanese spirit when Japanese soldiers, facing the enemy in battle, cried out the mantra “Namu amida butsu” 南無阿彌陀佛 and “Tennoˉ heika banzai” 天皇陛下萬歲 before charging into near-certain death.

When [we] compare the religious sentiment of thousands of soldiers at Ryojun 旅順 [during the Russo-Japanese War] when they invoked the name of Buddha (“Namu amida butsu”) in acceptance of their fate in a peaceful mind in the face of death with their war cry “Tennoˉ heika banzai” before dying, they may have different formal characteristics; but they are one and the same thing in the spirit of the Japanese, when interpreted not in a narrow way but in a broader way of the Greater Vehicle. They are one way leading to the same utmost bliss, and I think it is nothing but the Yamato-damashii 大和魂 (the Japanese spirit). (Daihoˉrinkaku 1937, 96)

The Japanese imperial strategy of incorporating religion into national policy affected Buddhist believers in the military because the spiritual power derived from the discipline developed by sitting in meditation could be harnessed for martial purposes (Victoria 2009, 183). Furthermore, symbols of Japan were imposed on every religion to underscore the notion that the Japanese empire came first before Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity.

Japanese Zen Buddhism during the colonial period was largely the province of the Soˉtoˉ and Rinzai schools. One example of Zen Buddhist activity for the war effort was the holding of a special religious service to pray for victory. It was believed that such religious activities as taking part in a chanting ceremony, hand-copying a sutra, building a temple, or collecting funds were tantamount to exercising good conduct or virtue. The Rinzai School, to which Kudoˉ Takeki belonged, stated, “In our sect, the religious ceremonies were performed during the duration of wars for over 600 years for the purpose of enhancing military strength” (Victoria 2009, 247). Moreover, Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion who was considered the personification of the “Merciful Mother,” was given the military title “Shoˉgun” and portrayed as “Avalokiteśvara Shoˉgun Bodhisattva,” who transmitted the teachings of Buddha and saved sentient beings (Victoria 2009, 248; 2013, 334). Thus, it was not only military leaders who used the spiritual power of the Kannon faith; it was also utilized in colonial Korea under the pretext of “cultivation of the mind-field,” “reconciliation of Japan and Korea,” and “assimilation of Korea into Japan.”

In 1932, the Japanese held a ceremony celebrating the completion of a temple and the consecration of its main Buddhist statue, which was constructed on the site where once stood Changch’ungdan Shrine, at which ancestor memorial ceremonies had been held during the Great Han Empire. The temple was dedicated in “everlasting remembrance, as a lofty sign of the way to Buddhahood,” of ResidentGeneral Itoˉ Hirobumi’s “laudable deeds” in Korea (Maeil Sinbo, Oct. 27, 1932). Built to commemorate the twenty-third anniversary of Itoˉ’s death and named after the late prime minister of Japan, it was called the Shunpozan-Hakubunji 春畝山博文寺 (Prince Itoˉ Memorial Temple). Although it belonged to the Soˉtoˉ School of Japanese Zen Buddhism, the temple was actually used interdenominationally. It was also used as a social center and an educational institution, available for weddings and funerals to the general public. Not just a temple for praying for the repose of the deceased soul of Itoˉ, it also functioned as a mechanism for the transformation of Korean culture into Japanese culture. As a matter of course, monuments in the memory of war heroes were erected there and national ceremonies were held, too—for example, to pray for the enhancement of national prestige and good fortune for the Japanese imperial army in battle (Julian 2016, 186–190; Maeil Shinbo, Oct. 3, 1937).

Like Hakubunji Temple, other Buddhist temples were used to hold ceremonies where state and religion were intermingled with uniquely Buddhist rites. As was well known, Itoˉ Hirobumi was such a devout believer in the Kannon faith that he would carry a statuette of Avalokiteśvara as an amulet (Nakane 1940, 252–256). Former Governor-General of Korea Saitoˉ Makoto was a follower of the Soˉtoˉ School of Zen Buddhism and the Kannon faith and was also said to have experienced the “uncanny efficacy” of Avalokiteśvara. In October 1931, he emphasized the “spiritual reconciliation [of Japan and Korea] through faith”

Figure 7.                Amaterasu O Army officers engaged in Zen meditation in the barracks (left)-mikami-centered Japanese religion20 (middle)

                Admiral To^-go^- Heihachiro^- 東鄕平八郞 (1848–1934) during the Russo-Japanese                  War and Kannon faith (right)

and vowed to donate an Avalokiteśvara statue. As a consequence, in September 1932, Primate Takashina Roˉsen 高階瓏仙 (1876–1968) of Soˉkeiji Temple 曹谿寺, the Seoul branch temple of the Soˉtoˉ School, held a ceremony for enshrining an Avalokiteśvara statue, which was touted as “the main Buddha for the reconciliation of Japan and Korea.”^[20]He interpreted the ceremony as an effort to “deliver Korea and its people from the world of suffering through the light of loving kindness of Avalokiteśvara”^[21] (Nakamura 1937, 17–18; Ichinohe 2013, 139).

Based on an imperial command that has been in effect for twenty years since the annexation of Korea by Japan, all human beings (i.e., both Koreans and Japanese) are to be treated with impartiality and fairness . . . when it comes to the spiritual reconciliation of both the Japanese and Korean people, I feel greater regret . . . Koreans have something in common with the Japanese people in their Kannon faith toward Buddhism. As someone, like others, seeking the power of dignity and virtue of the Great Loving Heart [i.e. Avalokites´vara] every day, I am one of the supporters of a Buddhist temple and have enshrined the spirits of my ancestors at a temple of the Soˉtoˉ School. Now, by donating a sacred statue of Avalokites´vara to Soˉkeiji and establishing a sacred venue in Wakakusa-choˉ, Seoul, I would like to make it a token of dedicating my office to Korea, expecting both the Japanese and Korean people to be spiritually reconciled in the future through their common faith and wishing the sacred light of the Great Loving Heart to stay in the land of Seoul for good. (Takashina 1932, 3; Nakamura 1937, 19–20)

The “light” here in this letter of aspiration by Governor-General Saitoˉ and mentioned in the religious comment by Primate Takashina, obviously refers to Avalokiteśvara. It also alludes to Amaterasu Oˉ mikami 天照大神 (The great divinity illuminating heaven), the presumed progenitor of the Japanese imperial household. The promotion and propagation of “the Kannon faith shared by both the Japanese and Korean people” was meant to dominate the colonial populace spiritually and undermine its spirit of resistance. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the image of Avalokiteśvara as the personification of mercy and compassion was used as a tool for war propaganda. The Wakakusa Kannon Commemorative Association posthumously dedicated the hair of Saitoˉ to the Avalokiteśvara hall of Wakakusaji Temple and honored the bodhisattva as “the guardian Buddha of Korea” (Nakamura 1937, 20). It also planned to build a shrine to house an Avalokiteśvara statue, in addition to the main Buddha hall and the large drawing hall, on a site of over 115,700 square meters in Wakakusa-choˉ at the foot of Mt. Namsan (Maeil Sinbo, Sept. 15, 1940). The “sacred venue of Avalokiteśvara” was a giant device for acclimating the people and asking for victory in war through the help of Avalokiteśvara’s power—a far cry from the purported true light of healing and the deliverance of souls.

Apart from this, the Japanese worked out a grand plan to establish sacred venues at thirty-three major temples across Korea, which corresponded to the thirty-three response bodies of Avalokiteśvara, by bringing together all influential supporters in Seoul for the project. Ostensibly designed to create “pilgrimage routes suitable for hiking” in places with outstanding scenery and historical heritage, it was actually meant, under the guise of “worshipping the Buddha and promoting health,” to “cultivate the mind-field of the Korean people” and ensure that Korean Buddhist temples were “mobilized to the forefront of edification” in emergencies to serve the country through religion.^[22] In other words, the Japanese attempted to regulate not only the body of the Korean people physically but also their spirit through the Kannon faith, which itself was a strong projection of the Japanese spirit.

Conclusion

We have examined the Japanese colonial policy of cultural rule involving medical service, Buddhism, and women in Korea with a view to understanding how the Japanese reconciled medical service and religion, the two areas concerning the health of the body and the spirit, to use them together to achieve their objectives for governance in Korea. Korea in the early colonial period suffered from a grave shortage of modern medical knowledge and facilities. Most seriously of all, the lack in public awareness about sanitation resulted in a great deal of otherwise avoidable loss of life. Colonial managers considered the bodily health of colonial women, who experienced many physical changes through conception, childbirth, and childbed fever, an important matter calling for management at the national level in order to ensure “healthy people and healthy soldiers” (健民健兵). It was to this end that

Figure 8. Avalokites´vara statue, often called Wakakusa Kannon, donated to Wakakusaji Temple                   by Governor-General Saito^- Makoto and Avalokites´vara statue on a magazine cover (left)

                Map of the thirty-three sacred venues of Kannon in Korea (right)

(Eda Toshio, 1932: 1)                 (Eda Toshio, 1932: cover)          Cho^-sen Bukkyo^- 130 (February 1938), Page 7

Kudoˉ Takeki, who arrived in Korea with authority as a German-trained medical doctor, insisted that a midwifery school and a free maternity hospital be established and wrote a book on feminine hygiene under orders from King Kojong (Kudoˉ 1912, 1).

Kudoˉ Takeki practiced medicine at Keijoˉ Women’s Hospital, which he had opened, and published his gynecological knowledge based on his observations and study of women’s problems in colonial Korea. As a leading figure among the Japanese settlers in Korea, he also facilitated colonial policy for the purposes of “extinguishing the stagnant cultural inheritances” of the colony and “spreading the light of civilization.” Working under the Buddhist name of “Tansetsu,” he devoted himself wholeheartedly to propagating Zen Buddhism, for which he drew on his authority and knowledge as a doctor, during the period of Cultural Rule that followed the March First Movement. Thus, he took part in the “cultivation” of not only the bodily realm, but also the spiritual one.

With his specialization in gynecology, Kudoˉ Takeki did more than physically treat women; he also used his authority to intervene broadly in matters about women in colonial Korea through his studies. The woeful absence of medical science and service in colonial Korea, despite the desperate need for them, meant that Kudoˉ had sweeping authority. In addition to the scalpel and gauze that he used, Dr. Kudoˉ also wielded great influence with his pen, with which he assessed and made recommendations in many areas outside of his specialty.

Under the koji name “Tansetsu,” Kudoˉ Takeki conducted Zen practice at the Seoul branch temple of the Myoˉshinji School of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, where he rubbed shoulders with officials of the Government-General, military officers, and doctors—the elite of the colonial ruling class. It was through Zen practice that he promoted religious bonds and friendship among the Japanese settlers in Korea. However, wittingly or unwittingly, he also served as an important supporter in the execution of colonial policy. He was an important de facto agent of the policies of “Reconciling Japan and Korea” and “Japan and Korea are One Body”—slogans adopted by Governor-General Saitoˉ—through Buddhism. The 1912 visit to Korea by Shaku Soˉen, a Zen master of Rinzai Zen, triggered a wave of popularization of the tradition of Zen across the colony. It was, however, a process of spiritual discipline that actually required conformity to the governing colonial policy through meditation and, under the slogan of “Ken Zen ichinyo” 劍禪一如 (Swordsmanship and Zen are one and the same), it called for unwavering allegiance to imperial Japan as loyal subjects. The rationale behind the slogan was in line with the “MindField Cultivation Movement” that was promoted later. Through his activities at the Choˉsen Buddhist Association, which facilitated colonial governance, sitting in meditation, and literary works with Buddhist themes, Kudoˉ exerted himself to serve his country to develop “healthy people and healthy soldiers.”

Kudoˉ Takeki epitomizes an important aspect of the colonial policy of Cultural Rule in that his activities involved the connection between medical service and Buddhism and between Buddhism and women. After the March First Movement, Governor-General Saitoˉ turned his attention to women, who had become more receptive to Buddhism after centuries of domination under Confucianism, as well as to medical science and service, the “benefits of civilization.” Taking note of Korean women’s “habit of believing in Buddhism,” the colonial rulers regarded women as “the foundation of society and the state.” In this respect, Cultural Rule realized governance by reconciling medicine, Buddhism, and women into a regime that could further its agenda. In this invisible framework, Kudoˉ took it as his calling to improve the social status of Korean women and give them relief through his medical knowledge. He also took great interest in Korean Buddhism. Given his extensive background, Kudoˉ was a perfect candidate to become a supporter of colonial policy in the eyes of colonial officials. The Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the representative order of traditional Korean Buddhism, originated in the Rinzai School. It is probably not a coincidence that Kudoˉ was a koji in that school.

When seen in terms of the reconciliation of medicine, Buddhism, and women, the Kannon faith can be understood as the most notable symbol of the healing of pain and the mercy of mothers (or women in general). In regard to the colonial policy of “spiritual reconciliation,” the Kannon faith was special in that it was an object of faith in both Korea and Japan. Kudoˉ Takeki built the Toˉkoˉ Hermitage on the premises of his hospital and installed a statue of Avalokiteśvara in White for patients to pray to for their health and for pregnant women to pray to for safe delivery. He himself expressed his wish that he be proven to be one of the response bodies of Avalokiteśvara, who manifested herself as a doctor. The shrine and the statue, however, were presumably a device for bestowing favors intended, by combining medicine and Buddhism, to realize the reconciliation of Japan and Korea through the Kannon faith. Resident-General Itoˉ was so deeply devoted to the Kannon faith that he kept a statuette of Avalokiteśvara as an amulet on his person. Governor-General Saitoˉ donated a statue of Avalokiteśvara, dubbed “Wakakusa Kannon,” and made it “the main Buddha for the reconciliation of Japan and Korea.” The Japanese Government-General of Korea utilized the image of Avalokiteśvara, representing mercy and healing, as a tool of wartime propaganda. It established thirty-three “sacred venues of Avalokiteśvara” across Korea, including one in Seoul, the center of the colony, to encourage the people of colonial Korea to render “service to the nation [Japan]” through religion under the great causes of “worshipping Buddha and health.”

The Japanese attempted to substitute “the light of Avalokiteśvara,” the symbol of mercy and healing, with “the light of Amaterasu Oˉ mikami,” the symbol of the Japanese spirit. Here they were able to establish the idea that Avalokiteśvara equals Japan. The union of Kudoˉ Takeki’s medical service, Buddhism, and women was indebted to Saitoˉ Makoto’s Cultural Rule; conversely, Kudoˉ provided a great deal of cooperation for Saitoˉ’s Cultural Rule through Buddhism. As shown in his koji name “Tansetsu,” the name of the hermitage “Toˉkoˉ,” which he built to enshrine a statue of Avalokiteśvara, and one of his calligraphic works, which reads, “deita butsudai, suichoˉ senkoˉ” 泥多佛大 水漲船高 (When there is much clay, the Buddha image is large; when the water rises, the boats float high), Kudoˉ did all that he could in colonial Korea as a Japanese settler-doctor and a koji of the Rinzai School of Japanese Buddhism, waiting constantly and inconspicuously for a favorable time to realize his purposes. By bringing medical service for women together with Buddhism during the colonial period, Kudoˉ redefined human suffering for the regime and converted it into the “light of Naisen ittai.”

Appendix 1. People Training in Zen at the Seoul Branch of the Myo^-shinji School, Rinzai Zen                        Buddhism, in Changsa-dong, Seoul

Major Figures (Precept Names, when applicable)	Activities	Remarks
Shaku So-en 釋宗演 (1860–1919)	Abbot of Engakuji in Kamakura, Japan	A pioneer in introducing Zen Buddhism to the United States, he influenced both D. T. Suzuki 鈴木大拙 and Natsume So-seki 夏目漱石, who helped introduce Zen to the Western world.
Furukawa Taiko- 古川大航 (1871–1968)	First abbot of Myo-shinji	Superintendent-general of the Zen Buddhist mission to China in 1937. Propagated Zen Buddhism in many parts of the world, including China, India, America, Europe, and East Asia.
Goto- Zuigan 後藤瑞巖 (1879–1965)	Second abbot of Myo-shinji	A disciple of Shaku So-en, he was the propagation supervisor of the Myo-shinji School in Korea in 1914.
Hanayama Daigi 華山大義 (1891–?)	Third abbot of Myo-shinji	Came to Korea in 1929 and participated primarily in the “Mind Field” Cultivation Movement.
Abe Mitsuie 阿部充家 (Mubutsu 無佛) (1862–1936)	Second President of Keijo- Nippo-	Born in Kumamoto, he was president of the newspapers Keijo- Nippo- and Maeil Sinbo. A disciple of Shaku So-en, he was close to Tokutomi Soho- 德富蘇峰, a journalist and thinker who managed the Government-General’s mouthpiece, Keijo- Nippo-.
Nakamura Kentaro- 中村健太郞 (Sansho- 三笑) (1883–?)	President of Cho- sen Bukkyo-sha	Born in Kumamoto, he came to Seoul to study in Korea like many others from the same city. He was an executive committee member of the Cho-sen Buddhist Association and an executive director of the One People Association. Able to speak Korean, he escorted and interpreted for GovernorGeneral Saito- and Tokutomi Soho-.
Kudo- Takeki 工藤武城 (Tansetsu 擔雪) (1878–?)	Director of Keijo- Women’s Hospital	Born in Kumamoto.
Tachibana Koichiro- 立花小一郞 (1861–1929)	Army lieutenant-general	Provost marshal of the military police stationed in Korea. Police commissioner of the Government-General of Korea.
Shiro-zu Awashi 白水淡 (1863–?)	Army major-general	Twelfth Infantry Brigade commander and Chief of Staff of the Japanese forces stationed in Korea.
Sasaki Shiho- shi 佐々木四方志 (Motsuan 物庵) (1868–?)	Director of Yongsan Railway Hospital	Medical director of Kwangjewo˘n. Chief of the Hygiene Department of Taehan Hospital. Member of the Mumon Assembly, Sesshin Assembly, and Sunday Lectures.
Fukami Kiyoshi 深水淸 (Tannen 湛然) (1869–?)	Editor-in-Chief of the Hanso˘ng Sinbo	Born in Kumamoto. Assemblyman of the Keijo- Japanese Residents’ Association. Member of the Mumon Assembly, Sesshin Assembly, and Sunday Lectures.
- Omura Tomonojo- 大村友之丞 (Suiun 翠雲) (1872–?)	Seoul correspondent of the Osaka Asahi Shimbun	War correspondent of the Twelfth Division. Chief secretary of the Keijo- Chamber of Commerce Member of the Mumon Assembly, Sesshin Assembly, and Sunday Lectures.
- Oba Jo-taro- 大庭讓太郞 (Jo-an 恕庵) (1869–?)	Manager of the Seoul branch of Nippon Life Insurance	Member of the Mumon Assembly.
Watanabe Teiichiro- 渡邊定一郞 (1872–?)	Chairman of the Keijo- Chamber of Commerce and Industry	Member of the Mumon Assembly.
Noda Utaro- 野田卯太郞 (Taikai 大塊) (1853–1927)	Vice president of the Oriental Development Company	Vice-president of the Friends of Constitutional Government.
Toriyama Koyata 鳥山小弥太	Judge at the Keijo- Court
Saito- Motojiro- 齊藤求次郞	Judge at the Keijo- Court
Matsudera Takeo 松寺竹雄 (1870–?)	Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Government-General	In 1906, he was appointed as a prosecutor at the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Residency-General and came to Korea.

(Nakamura Kentaro^- 1969, 65–66, 194)

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の女奴隷制度と其現代に及せる世相 [Female slavery in Choso˘n and its modern situation]. Choˉsen tetsudoˉ kyoˉkai kaishi 朝鮮鐵道協會會誌, no. 19 (November): 10–19.

__________. 1940a. “Choˉsen kanamajiribun shoˉshi” 朝鮮假名交文小史 [Short history of Korea in mixed script]. Keijoˉ zappitsu 京城雜筆, no. 255: 7–8.

__________. 2016. Choso˘n t’u˘gyu u˘i po˘mjoe—Namp’yo˘n sarhaebo˘m e taehan puin kwahakcho˘k koch’al 조선 특유의 범죄—남편살해범에 대한 부인과학적 고찰

[A crime unique to Choso˘n: A gynecological study of mariticide]. Translated by Ch’oe Chaemok 최재목 and Kim Cho˘nggon 김정곤. Kyo˘ngsan: Yo˘ngnam Taehakkyo Ch’ulp’anbu 영남대학교 출판부.

Kawabata Gentaroˉ 川端源太郎. 1910. Keijoˉ to naichijin 京城と内地人 [Seoul and Japanese residents]. Keijoˉ: Nikkan Shoboˉ 日韓書房: 91–92.

Linji Yixuan. 2015. Imje o˘rok 임제어록 [The sayings of Zen master Linji Yixuan]. Koyang: Ch’immuk u˘i Hyanggi 침묵의 향기.

Nakamura Kentaroˉ 中村健太郞. 1969. Choˉsen seikatsu gojuˉnen 朝鮮生活五十年 [My fifty years in Korea]. Kumamoto: Seichoˉsha 靑潮社.

__________. Saitoˉ shishaku wo shinobu 斉藤子爵を偲ぶ [Remembering Viscount Saitoˉ]. Keijoˉ: Choˉsen bukkyoˉsha 朝鮮佛敎社.

Nakane Kandoˉ 中根環堂. 1940. Kannon no reigen 観音の霊験 [The miraculous efficacy of Avalokiteśvara]. Toˉkyoˉ: Arimitsusha 有光社.

Oˉmura Tomonojoˉ 大村友之丞. 1922. 京城回顧錄 [Reflection record on Seoul]. Keijoˉ:

Choˉsen Kenkyuˉkai 朝鮮硏究會.

__________. 1925. “Myoˉshinji Zendoˉjoˉ no konjaku” 妙心寺禪道場の今昔 [The Buddhamandala for meditation at Myoˉshinji Temple—Past and present]. Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 朝鮮佛敎, no. 12: 7.

Oˉtani Koˉzui 大谷光瑞. 1925. “Shoˉman Bunin no hanashi” 勝鬘夫人の話 [Story of Queen Śriˉmaˉlaˉ]. Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 朝鮮佛敎, no. 13: 46–48.

Panmin kyumyo˘ngwi 반민규명위 [Presidential Committee for the Examination of Collaborators with Japanese Imperialism]. 2008. Ch’inil panminjok haengwi kwan’gye saryojip VI 친일반민족행위관계사료집 VI [Collection of historical sources about pro-Japanese and treacherous behaviors Ⅵ]. Seoul: So˘nin 선인.

Sakai Kiyoshi 阪井淸. 1932. Keijoˉ ishikai nijuˉgo shuˉnenshi 京城醫師會二十五周年誌 [The twenty-fifth anniversary journal of the Seoul Doctors’ Association]. Keijoˉ: Keijoˉ

Ishikai 京城醫師會.

Sasaki Joˉkyoˉ 佐々木浄鏡. 1930. Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ Taikai kiyoˉ 朝鮮仏教大会記要 [Archives of the Choso˘n Buddhist rally]. Keijoˉ: Choˉsen Bukkyoˉdan 朝鮮仏教團.

Shiio Benkyoˉ 椎尾弁匡. 1925. “Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ no konpon mondai wa kyoˉikuteki kakusei ni ari” 朝鮮仏教の根本問題は教育的覚醒に在り [The fundamental problem of Korean Buddhism lies in educational awakening]. Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 朝鮮仏敎, no. 17: 2–7.

Takashina Roˉsen 高階瓏仙. 1932. “Keijoˉ ni atarashiku dekita Kannon-sama no reijoˉ” 京城に新しく出来た観音様の霊場 [Newly-established sacred venue for

Avalokiteśvara in Seoul]. Kongoˉ, temporary special issue 9 (October): 2–3.

Yamada Tamada 山田玉田. 1925. “Fujin no biten to shinkoˉ” 婦人の美點と信仰 [Merits and faith of women]. Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ 朝鮮佛敎, no. 15: 37–39.

Yuanwu Keqin. 2007. Pyo˘gamnok 4 碧巖錄 4 [Blue cliff record 4]. Translated by So˘k Chihyo˘n 석지현. Seoul: Minjoksa 민족사.
Newspapers Keijoˉ shinpoˉ 京城日報 Maeil sinbo 每日申報

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Araki Nobuko 荒木信子. 2015. “Nihon toˉchi jidai no Choˉsen ni okeru ‘josei no jinken’ iyashime rareta sonzai kara katsuyaku suru sonzai e” 日本統治時代の朝鮮における‘女性の人権’卑しめられた 存在から活躍する存在へ [‘Women’s human rights’ in Korea under Japanese colonial rule: From being despised to being active]. Bessatsu seiron 23 別冊正論 23 [Separate volume to Sound Argument 23]. Edited by Kudoˉ Hitoshi 工藤均. Toˉkyoˉ: Sankei Shinbunsha 産経新聞社: 69–83.

Biontino, Julian. 2016. Ilcheha So˘ul Namsan chiyo˘k u˘i Ilbon Sindo Pulgyo siso˘l unyo˘ng kwa u˘irye yo˘n’gu 日帝下 서울 南山 地域의 日本 神道·佛敎 施設運營과 儀禮 硏究 [Operation and rituals of Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the Namsan area of Seoul during Japanese rule]. Phd Diss., Seoul National University.

Ch’oe Chaemok [Choi Jaemok] and Kim Cho˘nggon [Kim Jeonggon]. 2015. “Kudo Takeki u˘i ‘u˘ihak’ kwa ‘Hwangdo yugyo’ e kwanhan koch’al” 구도 다케키 (工藤武城)의 ‘의학’과 ‘황도유교’에 관한 고찰 [Kudoˉ Takeki’s research on modern medical science and Japanized Confucianism in colonial Korea]. U˘isahak 의사학, no. 51 (December): 659–701.

Cho˘njaeng kwa u˘iryo yulli ko˘mju˘ng ch’ujinhoe. 2014. 731-pudae wa u˘isadu˘l 731부대 와 의사들 [Unit 731 and doctors]. Translated by Suzuki Akira 스즈키 아키라. Seoul: Ko˘n’gang Midio˘ Hyo˘ptong Chohap 건강미디어협동조합.

Fujino Yutaka 藤野豊. 2000. Kyoˉseisareta kenkoˉ 強制された健康 [Forced health]. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Koˉbunkan.

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Hur, Nam-lin. 1999. “The Soˉtoˉ Sect and Japanese Military Imperialism in Korea.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 26 (Spring): 107–134.

Kim Sunso˘k. 2003. Ilche sidae Choso˘n ch’ongdokpu u˘i Pulgyo cho˘ngch’aek kwa Pulgyo-gye u˘i taeu˘ng 일제시대 조선총독부의 불교정책과 불교계의 대응 [The Japanese

Government-General of Korea’s policy on Buddhism and the responses from the Buddhist community during the Japanese colonial period]. Seoul: Kyo˘ngin Munhwasa 景仁文化社.

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Sasaki Shizuka. 2011. “Indo Pulgyo esou˘ ˘i u˘iryo” 인도불교에서의 의료 [Medical service in Indian Buddhism]. In Pulgyo u˘i mau˘m ch’aenggim kwa Sasang u˘ihak 불교의 마음챙김과 사상의학 [Mindfulness in Buddhism and Sasang typology]. Seoul: Unjusa 운주사: 19–41.

Uchida, Jun. 2011. Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea, 1876–1945. Cambridge (Mass.) and London: Harvard University Asia Center.

Victoria, Brian Daizen. 2009. Cho˘njaeng kwa so˘n 전쟁과 선 [War and Zen]. Translated by Pak Kwangsun 박광순 (original English title is Zen at War). Koyang: In’gan Sarang 인간사랑.

__________. 2013. Pulgyo p’asiju˘m 불교 파시즘 [Buddhist fascism]. Translated by Cho˘ng Hyo˘khyo˘n 정혁현 (original English title is Zen War Stories). Seoul: Kyoyangin 교 양인.

Watanabe Shoˉkoˉ 渡邊照宏. 1995. Ilbon u˘i Pulgyo [Buddhism in Japan]. Translated by Kim Chinman 김진만. Seoul: Sohwa 소화.

Wo˘n Tong’o and Kim U˘n’gyo˘ng. 2017. Yo˘lsa ka toen u˘isadu˘l 열사가 된 의사들 [Doctors who became patriots]. Seoul: Han’guk u˘isa 100-nyo˘n Kinyo˘m Chaedan 한국의 사100년기념재단.

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Koichiroˉ, provost marshal of the military police stationed in Korea, and Military Rule]. In Nikki ga kataru kindai: Kankoku·Nihon·Doitsu no kyoˉdoˉ kenkyuˉ 日記が語る近代: 韓国·日本·ドイツの共同研究 [Modernity as narrated by a diary: A joint study of Korea, Japan, and Germany]. Kyoˉto: Doˉshisha Korea Kenkyuˉ Sentaˉ 同志社コリア研究センター.




[1] Kudoˉ Takeki’s writings on the problems of Korean women, such as early marriage, drew much attention from readers in colonial Korea. In Japan, Kudoˉ was considered as having upheld Korean women’s rights during Japan’s occupation of Korea, helping them to stop passively accepting discrimination and to instead assert themselves (Araki Nobuko 2015, 69–83). However, he was also a supporter of Japan’s colonial rule of Korea and its colonial policy (Ch’oe Chaemok and Kim Cho˘nggon, 2015).


[2] Kudoˉ published seven pieces in a series of articles titled “Choˉsen tokuyuˉ no hanzai” 朝鮮特有の犯罪 (A crime unique to Korea) in the organ of the Government-General of Korea, Choˉsen, from March 1929 (serial no. 166), and published seven pieces under the same title with comparison tables from February 1933 (serial no. 213). Shortly thereafter, on the basis of these articles he published a monograph titled Choˉsen tokuyuˉ no hanzai: Honpu satsugaihan no fujin kagakuteki koˉsatsu 朝鮮特有の犯罪: 本夫殺害犯の婦人科学的考察 with the English title, The Gynecological Research of Husband Murder of Corean Women, A Special Crime of Corea, that included an English resume.


[3] Jin-Kyung Park’s study on Kudoˉ focuses specifically on his clinical examination of Korean woman’s husband murder, and illustrates how Kudo ˉ tried to frame the husband murder as the “unique sickness of the Korean race” by employing what he assumed as “scientifically” proven research methods. She argues that Kudoˉ’s construction of Korean woman’s husband murder as “racially-coded sickness” represents the anxiety and insectury on the part of Japanese colonizers towards their colonial subjects (i.e., Koreans) whom they perceived as permeable and precarious others. See Jin-Kyung Park, “Husband Murder as the ‘sickness’ of Korea: Carceral Gynecology, Race, and Tradition in Colonial Korea, 1926–1932,” Journal of Woman’s History 25, no. 3 (Fall 2013), 116–122.


[4] Kudoˉ was taught painting and calligraphy by Kim Kyujin 金圭鎭 (1868–1933), pen-name Haegang 海岡, who was one of the three top calligraphers of the time (Kudoˉ 1925a, 40–41).


[5] Kudoˉ’s various careers, activities, and writings outside of medicine are discussed in depth in the study by Ch’oe Chaemok and Kim Cho˘nggon (2015).


[6] It is not clear when Kudoˉ began to use his koji name, but according to Nakamura Kentaroˉ (1969, 65–66), it is presumed to be about 1915. Kudoˉ used “Tansetsu” 擔雪, “Kudoˉ Tansetsu” 工藤擔雪, and “Koji Tansetsu” 擔雪居士 as his koji name. Furthermore, the Diary of Bishop Mutel (Nov. 23 and Dec. 7, 1917) states that he was a “very ardent Buddhist” (Kim So˘ngt’ae, ed. 2002, 160–162).


[7] Quotation marks, underlining, and boldface type were added by the authors. When only the family names were given in the listing in the quotation, the authors have added given names in parentheses (Nakamura 1969, 192–194; Oˉ mura 1925, 7).


[8] The name “Tansetsu” 擔雪 came from the phrase “Tansetsu Tensei” 擔雪塡井 meaning “Bearing snow and filling up a well.”


[9] Kudoˉ was able to conduct gyenecologial research on 66 females convicted of murdering their husbands based on the information provided by Matsudera Takeo. The two friends jointly made an inspection visit to Europe on the subject of wife crimes (Kudoˉ 1940, 11; 1940a, 7).


[10] See Kudoˉ’s “Kankoku fujin no kenkyuˉ” (A Study on Korean Women) published in Choˉsen 朝鮮, a Japanese-language magazine published in colonial Korea, from its number 2 issue (April 1908) through number 8 (October 1908).


[11] The Keijoˉ Medical Association was established to “strive for the improvement and development of medical hygiene and dissemination of Japanese medicine in Korea.” It changed its name to the Keijoˉ Doctors’ Association in 1916.


[12] Kudoˉ Takeki’s first wife was Kaneko Yaeko 金子彌榮子. In 1907, when she was 21 years old, she was introduced to Kudoˉ by a friend and agreed to marry him. She accompanied her husband to Korea, but she reportedly failed to adapt herself to the foreign land and returned to Japan. Later, she embraced Buddhism and directed her attention to its study. She endeavored to discipline herself in Buddhist faith, copying and memorizing the Avalokites´vara Bodhisattva Universal Gate from the Lotus Suˉtra 觀世音菩薩普門品 and the Heart Suˉtra 般若心經 (Kaneko 1924, 1–17). A record of Yaeko remains in Kentaro's edited Kono ma no tsuki (The Moon in the Trees 木の間の月) (unpublished document).


[13] Kudoˉ’s calligraphic work in this Figure reads 泥[土]多佛大, 水長[漲]船高. The phrase is found in some Zen books, including the Blue Cliff Record 碧巖錄. It means “when there is much clay, the Buddha image is large; when the water rises, the boats float high,” implying that more afflictions make for a greater enlightenment. It is also interpreted to mean that medicine and disease are mutually dependent, as indicated in the phrase “Medicine and illness treat each other” that appears in the Record of Linji 臨濟錄 and the Blue Cliff Record (Yuanwu 2007, 31, 204; Linji 2015, 155 and 262).


[14] This table is a reconstruction from the one included in Cho-sen Bukkyo- 121 (June 1936), without the column for dates.


[15] On the left side of the magazine’s title 朝鮮佛敎 is the pen name of Governor-General Saito- Makoto with his official seal. This points to the fact that the Cho-sen Bukkyo- was a government mouthpiece for the advancement of the Governor-General’s religious and cultural policy.


[16] For the foundation process and activities of the One People Association, as well as its key members, see Nakamura and Kobayashi (Uchida 2011, 165–182).


[17] Issue 17 (1925) of Choˉsen Bukkyoˉ, a transdenominational magazine of Japanese Buddhism, carried in its advertisement section an ad by Kongoˉ 金剛, the mouthpiece of the Soˉtoˉ School. The September issue of the magazine referred to in the ad states that it contains Kudoˉ Takeki’s article, “Baka ni narimashita (“I have become a fool”).


[18] The organization was led by Japanese lay Buddhists residing in Korea, including Maeda Noboru and Nakamura Kentaroˉ, and pro-Japanese Koreans. Governor-General Saitoˉ Makoto organized both Japanese and Korean people to form an organization for the advancement of Buddhism, which in fact was designed to facilitate Japan’s colonial policy. He planned programs ostensibly suited for his policy of Cultural Rule, including those for the edification of the general public, conversion of criminals, and charitable works (Kim 2003, 101).


[19] According to Kudoˉ Takeki, the Avalokites´vara (bodhisattva of compassion) statue that he enshrined on the premises of his hospital was imported from China and was 400 to 500 years old. The white hood and the white robe on her suggest that it was the “Avalokites´vara in White Robe” 白衣觀音, one of the thirty-three transformation bodies 應身 of Avalokites´vara. The Avalokites´vara in White Robe was popular in China and is said to have been invoked most frequently by Korean Buddhists. Her image, like a “mother in white clothes,” symbolizes innocence and mercy, signifying complete healing and comfort from the fears, agonies, and suffering of childbirth (Kudoˉ 1927a, 4–7; Pang 2011, 57–62). The name of the hermitage, Toˉkoˉ 韜光, where Kudoˉ enshrined the Avalokites´vara statue, meaning “hiding the light,” was derived from the phase 韜光養晦, meaning “cultivating oneself and waiting for the right time in darkness without revealing one’s abilities.” Having something in common with his koji name 擔雪, this seems to connotate Kudoˉ disciplining himself silently in order to achieve his aspirations.


[20] The picture depicts a Confucian, a Buddhist, and a Shintoˉ 神道 follower facing the “light” of Amaterasu Oˉ mikami 天祖大神.


[21] After the Wakakusa Kannon Commemorative Association was established in 1933, a Buddha hall, “transdenominational and public like the Sensoˉji in Asakusa, Tokyo,” was built (“Wakakusa Kannon Hall”) and the statue was moved there. The new hall was built on a site of 66,100㎡ in Hannam-jo˘ng (present-day Mt. Namsan) at a cost of over 180,000 yen, which was raised through contributions.


[22] The thirty-three sacred venues were selected from among the old Korean temples scattered all across Korea, including those on Mts. Samgaksan 三角山, Kwanaksan 冠岳山, Inwangsan 仁王山, T’at’aesan 駝駄山, and Mongmyo˘ksan 木覓山 around Seoul, and other places (Choˉsen Bukkyoˉsha 1938, 7; Maeil Sinbo, June 19, 1937; Oct. 3, 1937; Oct. 4, 1937; May 11, 1938).