Bringing together Buddhist Wisdom and Japanese Culture for more than Seventy Years
The ABSC vision is to bring together American and global communities who seek the unconditional wisdom and compassion expressed in Buddhist teachings. All are welcome.
Trailblazer
The American Buddhist Study honors outstanding individuals who have made the Buddha Dharma their lifetime mission to create a better world
Mary Elizabeth Mikahala Robinson Foster
September 20, 1844 – December 29, 1930
Mary Foster’s gravesite is at the Makiki Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her grave is plain and simple, with a marble plaque and an unadorned marble column topped with a marble urn. There are no religious symbols or ornaments. On the marble plaque is inscribed “Mary E. Foster 1844 – 1930.”
You would not have known this Royal Hawaiian woman was a Buddhist, philanthropist, and social activist. She financially supported Buddhist temples in England, India, and Sri Lanka.
“Mary Foster’s life and legacy are deeply connected to the history of Buddhism in Hawaii. Her generosity and vision continue to inspire us today” said Bishop Toshiyuki Umitani of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, part of the Nishi Hongwanji in Kyoto, Japan, a Jodo Shinshu sect. Bishop Umitani was one of several speakers at the Mary Foster tribute hosted by the British MahaBodhi Society in collaboration with the ABSC on February 1, 2025.
First Japanese Students at Rutgers
In collaboration with Rutgers University, we tell the story of the first Japanese students to attend the university
Honoring Kusakabe Taro and William Griffis
In 1867, Kusakabe Tarō (1845–1870), a young samurai from Fukui, Japan, matriculated at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, as one of the first two Japanese students enrolled in an American college. In 1870 his friend and tutor, William Elliot Griffis (1843–1928), Rutgers class of 1869, left for Japan to teach English and science, first in Kusakabe’s home province of Fukui and then in Tokyo. He stayed in Japan for three and a half years, and upon his return to the United States he published The Mikado’s Empire, which became an authoritative book on Japanese history, culture, and society at the time. Griffis became the leading interpreter of Japan before World War I and spent his life writing and lecturing about Japan and Asia.
The year 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Griffis’ The Mikado’s Empire and the 100th since his final visit to Japan in 1926—1927, when he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun from the emperor of Japan. As we commemorate Griffis’ monumental achievements, we also wish to celebrate the efforts that have been made by the communities in Japan, New Jersey, and here in New York, to cherish and embrace the friendship between U.S. and Japan fostered by Kusakabe and Griffis.
ABOUT Us
American Buddhist Study Center was originally founded in 1951 by the late Reverend Hozen Seki. At that time the Study Center’s name was The American Buddhist Academy. Back then Reverend Seki’s wanted to enlighten the spirit and the minds of Americans to the great compassion, wisdom, and teachings of Amida Buddha.
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Toshiko Sakao's Calligraphy Workshop
Toshiko Sakao's Japanese Calligraphy Workshop
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