The author is a bit off key on Eastern religion, but his underlying point is valid.
Not much. Buddhism really has no theology, which makes the comparison hard to make. I would simply say that a Japanese who is both a Buddhist and a scientists has to keep his religious and his scientific views compartmentalized.
I concur. I'm no expert on Eastern religions, but it looks to me like he's overextrapolating from a rudimentary knowledge of Buddhist philosophy.
He does make good points about the spiritual implications of science (a consideration that drove me into the field). It's great to discuss the ramifications of science in a spiritual light; though the point should also be made that the methods of scientific inquiry and deduction must necessarily remain agnostic and free of dogmatic influence (inasmuch as that is humanly possible).