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

研究基金允许我为我在福冈和岛原地区的研究做档案和实地调查。我收集了关于天宫堂的资料，以及明治时期建造这座纪念碑的佛教僧侣广田刚正的资料。在岛原的研究为我提供了重要的资料来源，特别是广太朝圣印度的照片，以及他为移居印度的日本妇女举行的仪式，我可以广泛地记录寺庙本身，这是这些妇女捐赠的物证。我还通过参观日本的久之之津档案馆和博物馆，扩大了我对岛原和印度洋之间贸易网络的了解。在福冈，我与福冈亚洲艺术博物馆（Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum）的策展人合作，将黑田东彦收藏的材料复制到流行的印度艺术品上，并将明治和大正时期生产的日本火柴盒标签复制到印度市场上。这个收藏打开了印度和日本之间视觉文化流通的窗口。最后，我参观了福冈的Seimeikaikan博物馆，收集了由印度艺术家杉本哲郎（Sugimoto Tetsuro）创作的宗教艺术品收藏的信息。我用一部分研究资金购买书籍，用于我的书籍出版，还有一部分用于为一本关于媒体和现代佛教的编辑书撰写章节。研究经费还包括将这一章翻译成日文的费用。该书将于2023年9月与Hozokan出版社共同出版。

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.