Exploration, Memory, and Imagination: Modernity and the Knowledge of India in Japanese Buddhism

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The research funds allowed me to do archival and fieldwork for my research in the areas of Fukuoka and Shimabara. I collected materials on the Tennyoto memorial and the Buddhist priest who built it in the Meiji period, Hirota Gonsho. The research in Shimabara has provided me with important sources, especially photos of Hirota’s pilgrimage to India and of the rituals he performed for Japanese women who had migrated there, and I could extensively document the temple itself, which is material evidence of the donations of such women. I also expanded my knowledge of the trade networks between Shimabara and the Indian Ocean through a visit to the Kuchinotsu Archive and Museum.In Fukuoka, I collaborated with the curators of the Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum to copy materials from their Kuroda Collection on popular Indian art and on Japanese matchbox labels produced in the Meiji and Taisho periods for the Indian market. This collection opens a window on the circulation of visual culture between India and Japan. Finally, I visited the Seimeikaikan Museum in Fukuoka, to gather information on their collection of religious art produced by the India-inspired artist Sugimoto Tetsuro.I used part of the research funds to purchase books that I use in my book publication, and others that I have used for a chapter contribution to an edited volume on media and modern Buddhism. The research funds also covered the cost for the translation of this chapter into Japanese. The book will be published with Hozokan in September 2023.