In the beginning of the 20th century, Japan waged a number of wars, which culminated in the Second World War. In 1998, the book Zen at War was published in the United States describing in detail how Buddhist monks actively fought in these wars.
A Zen Buddhist woman in Holland was appalled by what she read in the book and wrote letters to Japanese monasteries inquiring how it was possible that Zen Buddhist monks were involved in warfare.
This documentary features, for the first time, Shodo Harada Roshi and other contemporary Zen Buddhist masters attempting to explain why their wartime predecessors became involved in Japanese militarism. Zen and War is a powerful reminder and timely warning of how peaceful philosophies can be waylaid by extremist ideologies.