Drawing upon our earlier analysis, we can quickly assemble the central components of a bill of rights consistent with Buddhism. 26 Each of these rights, in keeping with Buddhism, is conceived as inherent in each and every individual and thus inalienable.

 

1. Freedom to select the government

 

2. Right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and to receive just compensation

 

3. Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment such as torture, the death penalty, and inhuman internment

 

4. Right to equal and fair treatment under the law

 

5. Freedom of religion and conscience

 

6. Freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, economic class, or gender

 

7. Right to education

 

8. Right to work and receive just compensation including health care

 

9. Freedom from want for those unable to work through social security programs

 

10. Right to a clean environment

 

The similarity of the first six rights to those contained in the constitution of Japan is striking. Equally striking is the compatibility of the latter four rights with the prevailing expectations of the Japanese public, and existing Japanese public policy.

 

VIII. CONCLUSION It would seem that the speed with which the vast majority of Japanese embraced the principles of popular sovereignty and individual rights contained in the "Occupation Constitution" can in no small part be explained by the latent support inherent in Buddhism. And as long as Buddhism continues to be a vibrant part of Japanese culture, Japanese society will never wander far from the recognition that compassion; self-enlightenment; and effective protection of fundamental social, economic, and political rights are co-requisites.

 

Notes 1. For an examination of the Occupation reforms, see DEMOCRATIZING JAPAN: THE ALLIED OCCUPATION (Robert E. Ward & Sakamoto Yoshikazu eds., 1987).

 

2. The most frequently voiced demands for revision of the 1947 constitution include returning the Emperor to his rightful place at the top of Japan's socio-political structure, reinstating the household as the basic unit of society, and eliminating the restrictions imposed on the Japanese military by Article 9.

 

3. Mahayana Buddhism was introduced to the Japanese by an envoy from the Korean Kingdom of Paekche in 538 A.D. Today there are five major sects in Japan: Tendai, Kegon, Shingon, Jodo, and Zen. The differences among them are generally limited to the importance of particular sutras and the value of invocations.

 

4. See, e.g., ARTHUR DANTO, MYSTICISM AND MORALITY: ORIENTAL THOUGHT AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY 74 (1987).

 

5. See, e.g., Lily de Silva, The Scope and Contemporary Significance of the Five Precepts, in BUDDHIST ETHICS AND MODERN SOCIETY 143-57 (Charles W. Fu & Sandra A. Wawrytko ed., 1991).

 

6. See, e.g., Frederic L. Pryor, A Buddhist Economic System in Practice, 50 AM. J. ECON. & SOC. 18-19 (1991).

 

7. See, e.g., MASAO ABE, ZEN AND WESTERN THOUGHT 92 (1985).

 

8. Id. at 49.

 

9. For a summary of the twelvefold chain of causation, see, for example, YOSHINORI TAKEUCHI, THE HEART OF BUDDHISM: IN SEARCH OF THE TIMELESS SPIRIT OF PRIMITIVE BUDDHISM 83 (1991).

 

10. The impact of sage worship in the context of China is discussed in Zehua Liu & Quan Ge, On the "Human" in Confucianism, 26 JOURNAL OF ECUMENICAL STUDIES 313-35 (1989).

 

11. Robert A. F. Thurman, Guidelines for Buddhist Social Activism Based on Nagarjuna's Jewel Garland of Royal Counsels, 16 THE EASTERN BUDDHIST 35 (1983).

 

12. Robert A. F. Thurman, Social and Cultural Rights in Buddhism, in HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS 153 (Leroy S. Rouner ed., 1988).

 

13. Id. at 155.

 

14. See, e.g., Frederic L. Pryor, A Buddhist Economic System in Principle, 49 AM. J. ECON. & SOC. 344 (1990).

 

15. See, e.g., de Silva, supra note 5, at 148.

 

16. JAMES W. WHITE, THE SOKAGAKKAI AND MASS SOCIETY 127 (1970).

 

17. P. Don Presmasiri, The Relevance of the Noble Eightfold Path to Contemporary Society, in BUDDHIST ETHICS AND MODERN SOCIETY, supra note 5, at 135.

 

18. KAITEN NUKARIYA, THE RELIGION OF THE SAMURAI 108 (1973).

 

19. Prabha Chopra, Contribution of Buddhism to Human Rights and Status of Women, in CONTRIBUTION OF BUDDHISM TO WORLD CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE 127 (P.N. Chopra ed., 1983).