The Visual Culture of Japanese Buddhism from the Early Modern Period to the Present

The Visual Culture of Japanese Buddhism from the EarlyModern Period to the Present

Patricia Graham*University of Kansas

Abstract

Following the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the sixth century, the faith quickly became adefining feature of Japanese civilization, in large part because of the diverse and abundant visualculture it engendered that both reflected and shaped its religious practice. Although Japanese Bud-dhism remains a vital living tradition, until the last twenty years, its visual culture created after the16th century has received little attention by scholars. Since then, Japanese and Western languagestudies on focused aspects of Buddhist paintings, sculpture, and architecture, with most addressingthe early modern period (ca. 1600–1868), have proliferated but until the publication of PatriciaGraham’s Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005 (2007), no survey of materials span-ning this long time period had been attempted. This brief essay does not summarize Graham’sbroad analysis of the thread of change over time and the plurality of later Buddhist practice inJapan manifest in its abundant visual culture. Instead, drawing on the examples presented in Gra-ham’s study, it introduces significant and representative sites of worship from the 17th century tothe present to highlight the ways the faith became transformed in tandem with changes in Japa-nese society, manifested in the convergence of patronage, image production, and religious devo-tion at these sites. Discussion is presented chronologically in four parts beginning with anoverview of studies on Japanese Buddhism’s recent visual culture. This is followed by three sec-tions on the sites and related imagery: Buddhist sites of worship in the early modern period, Bud-dhist sites of worship in the modern period before World War II, and Buddhist sites of worshipin the modern period after World War II.

Overview of Studies on Japanese Buddhism’s Recent Visual Culture

Japanese Buddhist arts and architecture of the early modern period have long been over-looked because of the way the study of Japanese Buddhism post 1600 has been perceived.Until recently, Buddhist studies reflected lingering biases of Meiji period (1868–1912)reformers, who carefully positioned their era as superior to the backward culture of theirimmediate past. They deemed Buddhism marginal to society as the nation embarked on anew age of secular modernism. The now outdated study by McMullin (1984) abides bythis position in its characterization of the military bureaucracy of the Tokugawa shoguns,who ruled during the early modern period (also called the Tokugawa or Edo period), aspromoters of Chinese Confucianism and denigrators of Buddhism. This viewpoint hasbeen debunked by recent scholarship (Bodart-Bailey 2006; Watt 1984). Pioneering schol-arship on early modern religion by Japanese scholar Tamamuro Fumio (b. 1935) hasinfluenced many scholars in the West (Ambros 2008; Hardacre 2002; Hur 2000; Sawada2002; Williams 2005).

Historically, research on early modern Buddhist sites and imagery has generally lan-guished, with the exception of studies on sculptors and painters considered exemplars ofthe later mingei (folk arts) movement (McArthur 1999; McCallum 1974, Van Alphen &

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Lamers 1999). Scholars have tended to focus on secular painters and printmakers, whoseproducts were in high demand among the well-educated consumers in Japan’s urbanareas, and on the booming ceramics industry of the era. Only rarely did the artists’ Bud-dhist devotion figure into their discussions (Hickman & Sat�o 1989). Art historians special-izing in Buddhist arts have frequently cited the prevalence of esthetically inferiorBuddhist imagery in comparison to earlier works as another reason for their disregard ofthese materials. Recent studies in Japanese, undertaken by Tsuji Nobuo (b. 1932) andother younger scholars have begun to more favorably regard the Buddhist art of this era,which they generally characterize as dominated by the tastes, financial resources, and rit-ual practices of commoners (Tsuji 1990). In Western languages, prior to Graham’s book,wide-ranging studies have been scarce; only one blockbuster exhibition on early modernart (Singer 1989) featured religious art as a main theme. Reflecting long-standing Westernfascination with Zen, research on early modern Buddhist art in the West has been domi-nated by copious writings about Zen painting and calligraphy (Addiss 1978, 1989; Seo &Addiss 1998, 2010; Yamashita & Yajima 2000). Other areas of interest include importantsites associated with the highest-echelon samurai (Watsky 2004), and art by imperial nuns(Fister 2000, 2003, 2009). Only two have addressed patronage and imagery at popularsites of worship (Graham 2004; Screech 1993).

Modern attitudes towards Buddhism and its visual culture have been impacted by thegovernment’s persecution of Buddhism early in the Meiji era (Ketelaar 1990). After itsrehabilitation as a modern faith in the late 19th century, institutional Buddhism becameperceived as marginalized from secular society. This situation derives from ideas aboutreligion promulgated by 19th century European intellectuals who belittled the value offormal religious institutions to the modern world. Such critiques are now described as the‘Secularization Theory of Modernity’ (Promey 2003, p. 584), which influenced Japanesepoliticians and scholars as they struggled to reinvent their country as a modern nation inthe Meiji period (1868–1912). These leaders closely identified institutional Buddhismwith Japan’s more primitive past and led them to laud only ancient and medieval JapaneseBuddhist temple complexes and imagery as the nation’s unsurpassed cultural patrimony.Yet, concurrently they idealized Zen, which, from the early 20th century had reachedthe West, as the touchstone of many of Japan’s premodern artistic achievements (Sharf1995). All this, in the process, denigrated Buddhism’s more recent visual culture.

These attitudes became embedded in the new canon of Japanese art history promul-gated by the Meiji leaders. Only Buddhism’s sites of worship of the 7th through 16thcenturies came to form its core. These were closely associated with patronage from soci-ety’s elites, the imperial family and powerful samurai warlords, were located in the oldimperial and political capitals (Nara, Kyoto, and Kamakura), and were created by presti-gious hereditary workshops of skilled artists. These works were selected because theycould be equated with the finest arts produced in the service of Christianity in Europeannations, with which Japan in the late 19th century sought parity. Those who defined thisearly canon of Japanese art history omitted more recent Buddhist art and architecture todraw attention away from later Japanese society’s dominance by commoners. Many latertemples were designed for use by commoners and many of these were located in outlyingprovinces rather than in centers of power. Consequently, many later Buddhism’s iconswere created for commoners, who often located these not on temple altars as previously,but outdoors in less formal places of worship. Even the makers themselves came from adifferent socio-economic status than those who served the earlier elites. Statues were vari-ously carved by enterprising independent sculptors of urban commoner status, chiseled instone by anonymous workmen of humble origin, or created as expressions of devotion

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by amateur practitioners. Most known and studied Buddhist sculptors of prior centurieshad belonged to prestigious hereditary lineages with close ties to elite families and thetemples they patronized, and they specialized in technically complicated carving in wood.

Reflecting Buddhism’s presumed marginal status in modern Japan, studies of modernJapanese visual culture (postdating 1868) also have not considered Buddhist art and archi-tecture as a valid thematic approach for overarching studies. These investigations insteadfocus on secular artists, especially painters, whose Buddhist-themed works were conceivedas historical subjects, and emphasize the secular building projects of prominent architectstied to global modernist traditions. The work of these artists and architects that emergesfrom their engagement with Buddhism or on commission from Buddhist organizations isrecognized as such, but is not considered a part of the historic tradition of Japanese Bud-dhist art or architecture because it simply appears too different from that to be consideredas part of the same continuum (Graham 2007, p. 10). Thus, dismissed from considerationas Buddhist art and architecture have been imaginative achievements inspired by Bud-dhist-influenced nonsectarian spirituality, which has been evident in Japan since the early20th century.

This attitude has been reinforced since the 1890s, by the Japanese government’s poli-cies of protecting only Buddhist arts and temple structures of the ancient and medievaleras through their designation as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.Their preeminence has overshadowed the fact that Japanese Buddhism continued tothrive and support the production of a large body of dynamic visual culture in subsequentcenturies.

All these reasons contribute to the dearth of research on Japanese Buddhist art in themodern and contemporary period. Only one Japanese language survey has been con-ducted on modern Buddhist painting and sculpture (�Oga 1986–1987), although exhibi-tion catalogs on individual painters and sculptors have been published in recent years.With regard to modern Buddhist architecture, only since the 1980s have regional andnational initiatives begun to survey and preserve modern Buddhist temple buildings. Still,only one major compilation exists on cotemporary religious architecture in Japan (MeiseiShuppan 1997). This absence also relates to widespread, erroneous scholarly assumptionsthat religion restricts rather than encourages the creativity of modern artists (Promey2003). However, Western scholars have recently begun to acknowledge the possibilityof connections between personal religious practice of Buddhism and artistic inspiration.A few of these publications, which are nearly all exhibition catalogs, feature modern andcontemporary Japanese artists (Baas & Jacob eds. 2004; Baas 2005; Brauen & Jacob 2010;Committee of 100 for Tibet & The Dalai Lama Foundation 2006; Mori 2007; Munroe2009).

Buddhist Sites of Worship in the Early Modern Period (1600–1868)

The copious, diverse Buddhist arts and temples of the early modern period were createdby and for people from all levels of society. These temples served all segments of thepopulation, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes separately. They reflect the determi-nation of the Buddhist clergy and devotees of this era, despite strict bureaucratic controlof Buddhist institutions by the Tokugawa shoguns. Patronage of Buddhist temples thencame from three main groups: the Tokugawa family (Graham 2007, Chapter 1); otherelite members of society, specifically the powerful samurai (warrior) vassals of these rulersand the imperial family (Graham 2007, Chapter 2); and the commoners who resided inboth urban and rural areas of the country (Graham 2007, Chapter 3).

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In order to assert their prestige by demonstrating publicly a link between secular andspiritual authority, the Tokugawa shoguns spent lavishly on reconstruction of importanttemples damaged in the previous century’s civil wars. These efforts resulted in the con-struction of many majestic buildings at Japan’s most famous old temple complexes, whichgreatly color our perception of the material culture of premodern Japanese Buddhist insti-tutions. Among these is the dramatic, elevated Main Hall of Kiyomizudera in Kyoto,completed in 1633 (Fig. 1).

The Tokugawa also founded new temples to bolster their authority and express theirbenevolence. But by the early 18th century, their funding dwindled, largely because ofoverspending on these projects. The most important of their new monuments prior tofinancial insolvency set in was Rinn�oji, the affiliate prayer hall to Nikk�o T�osh�ogu, theopulent Shinto shrine mausoleum of the deified founder of their lineage, TokugawaIeyasu (Rinn�oji 2010). The shrine and the temple functioned as complementary institu-tions where elaborate funerary rites intended to publicly legitimize Tokugawa hegemonytook place. These buildings include the 1647 Main Hall, whose appearance embodies theweight of authority the Tokugawa aimed to project (Fig. 2).

Figure 1. Main Hall, Kiyomizudera,1633, Kyoto.

Figure 2. Main Hall, Rinn�oji, 1647, Nikk�o.

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The status and wealth of the daimyo (samurai vassals of the shoguns) and the imperialfamily enabled these elite groups to create significant Buddhist architectural monuments.Various motivations account for their patronage, including political expediency, personalreligious devotion, honoring of deceased family members, and the persuasive powers ofillustrious priests.

As symbols of their power and benevolence, the daimyo frequently restored anderected temple complexes in their provincial domains. Many do not survive. Amongthose lost is Hyakutakuhaiji, erected by the Tsugaru daimyo clan of northern Japan onthe outskirts of Hirosaki city at the base of Mount Iwaki, a dormant and sacred volcano.It functioned as the Buddhist counterpart to the Iwakisan Shinto shrine of that mountain.In the early Meiji period, the government ordered transformation of its Buddhist struc-tures into Shinto shrine buildings in accordance with new edicts separating Buddhismand Shinto and elevating Shinto as the national religion. The temple’s main gate, con-structed in 1628, remains a legacy to the shrine’s Buddhist past (Fig. 3), still adorned withrailing carvings in stone that feature an unusual pair of Chinese lion-dog guardians liter-ally climbing up the sides of the pillars closest to the entryway (Fig. 4), an indication ofthe vibrant creativity of local stone sculptors.

Shogunal, daimyo, and imperial family sponsorship ensured the successful establishmentof a new Zen lineage, �Obaku, in the mid-17th century, initiated by the emigration toJapan of high-ranking Chan monks from China. These charismatic, learned monksattracted diverse patronage throughout Japan. They situated their head temple near Kyotoin Uji at Manpukuji (Graham 1996; Manpukuji 2010), and brought Chinese artisans fromChina to oversee construction of buildings in Chinese Ming-period styles (Fig. 5). Con-struction at the compound lasted from 1661 to 1693.

Successful proselytizing efforts aimed at commoners nationwide by monks from varioussects resulted in commoners becoming Buddhism’s most numerous followers during theearly modern period. Commoner support became critical to perpetuation of templesbeginning in the 18th century. Consequently, some temples originally supported by theshoguns became beholden to private individuals, mainly commoners, for their continuedsustenance. This is the case with �Obaku’s most popular temple, Gohyaku Rakanji (theTemple of the Five Hundred Rakan), founded in 1695 in Edo (the shogunal capital,now called Tokyo) by a land grant from the shoguns (Gohyaku Rakanji 2010, Screech1993). The temple did not survive the vicissitudes of time well; many of its statues were

Figure 3. Main Gate at the Iwaki Shrine (formerly Hyakutakuhaiji), Mount Iwaki, Aomori 1628, Hirosaki.



damaged and removed during the Buddhist persecutions in the early Meiji period. In theearly modern period though, commoners flocked to it to see its famous life size statues ofFive Hundred Rakan (Skt. Arhat; devout laity who gained enlightenment after hearing

Figure 4. Lion-dog (Karashishi) guardians from the railing of the main gate at the Iwaki Shrine, 1628, Hirosaki.Stone. Height: approx. 60 cm.

Figure 5. Manpukuji, General Gate (S�omon), 1664, Uji.

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the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni in India), carved by its founding monk, a pro-fessional Buddhist sculptor, who was said to have modeled them after actual people. Theywere housed in a building whose interior design seemed to transport visitors to the site atwhich Shakyamuni preached the Lotus Sutra in India long ago (Fig. 6). Rakan enjoyedwidespread, trans-sectarian popularity during the early modern period because the massesof lay followers then could identify with them as fellow humans. They became closelyidentified with the �Obaku monks, admired for their moral integrity and fortitude,because �Obaku temples frequently featured painted and sculpted images of them. Sculptedrepresentations of Rakan have proliferated at Japanese temples ever since. Most have beenmade in stone, have been located in temple courtyards, and have been created as devo-tional acts by temple priests or devout amateur laity (Arakan 2010; Graham 2007,pp. 101–8, 2010).

Gohyaku Rakanji also featured another popular attraction, a now lost towering spiral-stair hall (Sazaed�o; lit. turban shell), erected in the 1780s, that simulated the experience oftraversing a pilgrimage route or climbing a sacred mountain for devotees who could notleave home (Fig. 7). This convergence of tourism and religious devotion is representativeof the means many later Japanese Buddhist temples employed to attract visitors andaccounted for the mass production of pictorial prints of these sites in the 18th and 19thcenturies (Fowler 2008).

Another still prosperous temple that owed its beginnings to shogunal support is Narita-san Shinsh�oji, near Tokyo’s Narita airport (Graham 2004, Naritasan Shinsh�oji 2010). Thistemple grew popular due to association with the famous Kabuki actor, Ichikawa Danj�ur�o I(1660–1704), who revered the temple’s main deity (the Wrathful Bright King, Fud�oMy�o�o) (Kominz 1997). Because of his patronage and that of later generations of his actingfamily, the temple prospered. The temple’s main icon, a secret image of Fud�o My�o�o, wasso highly regarded that sometimes it was displayed in Edo as a fundraising effort for thetemple, a practice widespread in the early modern period and that continues today withexhibitions of temple treasures at art museums. Shinsh�oji, like many other temples, had toreconstruct its edifices periodically due to their repeated destruction by fires and earth-quakes. The pagoda (Fig. 8), among the first structures at the temple built through fundsraised by Danjur�o I in collusion with the temple’s head priest, closely resembles the more

Figure 6. View of the interior of the present-day Gohyaku Rakanji Main Hall with a selection of the Five HundredRakan statues by Sh�oun Genkei (1648–1710), circa 1691–1695.



ornate shogunal style of the Nikk�o Shinto shrines and Rinn�oji’s Main Hall. The 1830main gate’s funding came from members of the local fish market association, whose namestill adorns its giant lantern (Fig. 9). The reconstruction of the temple’s imposing main hallin 1858 was made possible by donations from over 10,000 worshipers (Fig. 10).

In addition to patronizing local temples, commoners embarked on pilgrimages totrans-sectarian circuits of temples devoted to popular Buddhist personages including theBodhisattva Kannon, K�ob�o Daishi (founder of the Shingon sect), and Fud�o My�o�o, or tosectarian headquarters, making such journeys one of the defining characteristics of earlymodern Japanese religious practice, that continues into the present (Ambros 2008; For-manek 1998; Reader 2005). Pilgrimage site worship halls were specially designed withgrand verandas and interior public sanctuaries to accommodate large numbers of visitors.Among these is Zenk�oji in Nagano City, which funded its main hall through the popularfund-raising practice of holding public exhibitions (kaich�o; lit. ‘opening the curtain’) of itshidden icon (hibutsu), entry to which required an admission fee (Hur 2009; McCallum1994; Shinsh�u Zenk�oji 2010). Its resplendent main hall was consecrated in 1707 (Fig. 11).

Construction of Zenk�oji was among the last great building projects at temples in Japanuntil the late 19th century. Neither the government nor private individuals could amassthe funding required of such efforts until then. But production of impressive imagery foruse in existing buildings continued unabated through the initiative of devout individuals.Among these was Kano Kazunobu (1815–1863), a professional artist of Edo (Graham2010). His magnum opus, on which he worked for 10 years preceding his death, was aset of one hundred paintings of the five hundred Rakan created for the Tokugawa familytemple of Z�oj�oji, the eastern Japan headquarters of the J�odo (Pure Land) sect of

Figure 7. And�o Hiroshige (1797–1858), Sazaid�o at Gohyaku Rakanji, number 70 from the series One HundredViews of Edo (Meisho Edo Hyakkei), 1857. ª Trustees of the British Museum.

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Buddhism (Z�oj�oji 2010). His paintings incorporated newly introduced Western influences(raking light, shading, and precise anatomical definition) and were received with greatpublic acclaim when they were unveiled in 1864. They were subsequently displayedtwice annually, initially in the temple’s Main Hall. After that burned in 1873, they werenot displayed again until 1878, after the artist’s widow had funded construction of a FiveHundred Rakan Hall. Lost to firebombs in 1945, the temple had no other place to dis-play them and they subsequently faded from public awareness. A special exhibition in thespring of 2011 at the Edo Tokyo Museum has occasioned great fanfare, fueled by thetemple, which had distributed engaging posters for the show a year in advance, tyingthe artist’s graphic imagery to pop culture manga imagery (Fig. 12).

Buddhist Sites of Worship in the Modern Period before World War II (1868–1945)

Government persecution of Buddhism in the early Meiji period accounted for destructionof many temples but could not curtail personal devotion (Collcutt 1986; Guth 1993,p. 105; Ketelaar 1990). One of the largest Buddhist denominations, the Shin sect Otanibranch, prospered because its clergy early on embraced the new political regime’s mod-ernization efforts. Otani’s followers funded reconstruction of the main buildings and theirstatuary (completed in 1879) at their sect’s headquarters at Higashi Honganji in Kyoto,necessitated because they had burned in 1864. When completed in 1895, the new main

Figure 8. Naritasan Shinsh�oji, Pagoda, 1712, Narita City.



worship hall (known as the Founder’s Hall or G�oeid�o) held the largest floor space withinany wooden structure in the world, a distinction retained today (Fig. 13).

In 1897, the government finally began to fund reconstruction of nationally importantancient temple buildings, the most prominent being the Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsu-den) at T�odaiji in Nara (Fig. 14), first constructed in 752. It has been reconstructed four

Figure 9. Naritasan Shinsh�oji, Main Gate, 1830, Narita City.

Figure 10. Naritasan Shinsh�oji, Shaka Hall (erected in 1858 as the temple’s Main Hall), Narita City.

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Figure 11. Zenk�oji, Main Hall, Nagano City, 1707.

Figure 12. Poster produced by Z�oj�oji for the Edo-Tokyo Museum’s exhibition of the Five Hundred Rakan paintingsthe temple owns by Kano Kazunobu (1815–1863).



times, with its present iteration the result of popular support in the early 18th century. Itstands today as the tallest premodern wooden building in the world although the presentstructure is significantly smaller than the original. This building would not have survivedwithout a modern restoration (1906–1913) that incorporated Western engineering tech-nology and imported steel (Coaldrake 1996), used because modern carpenters lacked theskills to duplicate the work of the ancient craftsmen.

The technology used in T�odaiji’s reconstruction hints at the radical transformation tocome in the conception of Buddhist temple architecture. In the pre-World War II per-iod, a few Buddhist temples utilized modern materials of stone or concrete. Those thatdid expressed concerted efforts to redefine Japanese Buddhism’s visual presence as transna-tional and link it with the nation’s expansionist movement in the 1920s and 1930s. Themost impressive building of this type is the 1934 Main Hall at Tsukiji Honganji in centralTokyo (Tsukiji Hongwanji 2010), designed by one of Japan’s first Western-trained archi-tects, It�o Ch�uta (1867–1954) (Fig. 15). It replaced an Edo-period wood-frame structuredestroyed by the 1923 Great Kant�o earthquake. The decision to reconstruct it using

Figure 13. Higashi Honganji, Main Hall (The Founder’s Hall or G�oeid�o), Kyoto, 1895.

Figure 14. T�odaiji, Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden), 1707, restored 1906–1913, Nara.

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masonry construction in a modern, Indian-influenced style reflected the Pan-Asian stancethat this powerful and wealthy Buddhist sect wished to project to the world (Jaffe 2006;Kikuchi 2004, pp. 34–95; Reynolds 2001, pp. 16–20; Watanabe 2006; Wendelken2000). Modern style buildings such as this served as a beacon for the nation’s grand plansfor the future, in contrast to T�odaiji’s restored Daibutsuden that demonstrated glorifica-tion of the nation’s past cultural achievements.

One temple project of this period, the bronze Kobe Daibutsu (Great Buddha) dated1891, for the Kobe temple of N�ofukuji (N�ofukuji 2010) (Fig. 16), seems an amalgama-tion of these trends (Graham 2007, pp. 196–7). The temple had originally intended toerect a new main hall, but it installed this statue instead at the insistence of a donor. Itreflected the prevailing interest of its time for monumental symbolic statuary, epitomizedby the 1886 American Statue of Liberty (Hashizume 1998, p. 24). The N�ofukuji Buddhais Japan’s first giant icon intended from the outset to sit in a temple’s courtyard and notinside a building. It had precedents at early modern period temples, however, wheresmaller-scale bronze icons and memorials sat in temple courtyards to facilitate informal,private devotions. But the larger scale of the N�ofukuji statue was unprecedented and pre-figured the popularity of giant Buddhist statues that continues today. It also featured aunique application of modern technology, an electric light in its forehead in place of thejewel that represented the Buddha’s third wisdom eye. Both this addition and its place-ment outdoors attested to its makers’ intention for it to serve as a modern civic, ratherthan wholly spiritual, monument, and in this attitude it epitomized the transformation atthe time of Buddhist temples into cultural heritage sites and popular tourist attractions.During World War II it was melted down for scrap metal, although a replica was erectedin 1991.

Buddhist Sites of Worship in the Modern Period after World War II (1945–2010)

Since the end of World War II, Japanese Buddhist followers have become divided intotwo, not always mutually exclusive, groups of enthusiasts: monks and lay practitionersassociated with its traditional institutions and individuals inspired by Buddhism as a non-denominational humanitarian philosophy (McMahan 2008; Reader & Tanabe 1998).

Figure 15. It�o Ch�uta (1867–1954). Main Hall, Tsukiji Honganji, 1934, Tokyo.



Because of the multiple ways people have come to relate to Buddhism, its sites of devo-tion and visual imagery take many forms.

Temples still generate a need for recognizable representations of the faith’s deities,sometimes in response to new devotional practices. Among the most widespread of theseis performance of memorial rites for unborn children (mizuko kuy�o; lit. ‘memorial ritesfor children of the waters’, a euphemism for aborted fetuses), popular since the 1970s(Hardacre 1997; LaFleur 1992). This practice has encouraged dedication of small stonestatues of the Bodhisattvas Jiz�o (Fig. 17), created by professional workshops, monks,or devotees. Sometimes larger bronze statues of mizuko Kannon, the Bodhisattva of

Figure 16. Great Buddha of Kobe (Hy�og�o Daibutsu), 1891. Cast bronze. Height: 8.5 m. Historic photo reproducedfrom Walter Weston, Mountaineering and Exploration in Japan in the Japanese Alps (London: John Murray, 1896),plate opposite, p. 3.

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compassion as mother goddess, are commissioned for more important pilgrimage temples,such as the Daikanji nunnery at Zenk�oji (Fig. 18), whose statue of 1970 is credited as thefirst of its type.

Figure 17. Rows of Jiz�o Bodhisattva statues at Hasedera, Kamakura, installed between 2000 and 2004. Stone withcloth and yarn accouterments, height of each approx. 40 cm.

Figure 18. Kannon with Child (Mizuko Kannon), installed in the courtyard of the Daikanshin nunnery, a subtempleof Zenk�oji, Nagano Prefecture, 1970. Cast bronze. Height: approx. 150 cm.



Another popular meritorious devotional practice is sutra copying, which temples spon-sor in exchange for a monetary donation to building campaigns. The temple that initiatedthis practice was Yakushiji in Nara (Yakushiji Temple 2010), which around 1970embarked on an ambitious project to recreate the ‘original state’ of its compound duringits heyday in the 8th century. Architects modeled the new structures on its one remainingoriginal 8th century pagoda, old plans, and their study of other existing eighth centurybuildings elsewhere. Rebuilding required removal of the temple’s Edo period GoldenHall and Lecture Hall, the latter being so dilapidated it could not be saved and reusedelsewhere, as was the other. The temple is achieving this goal gradually, as fundraisingefforts allow. The Golden Hall was completed first, in 1976, and reconstruction of a sec-ond, lost pagoda followed in 1981. The Lecture Hall came last, in 2003 (Fig. 19),although work is ongoing to restore the compound’s perimeter walls. Even thoughremoval of these later structures negates subsequent temple history, the appearance ofYakushiji’s compound is vastly improved over its rundown state in the late 1960s. Still,while the new buildings may look old, they incorporate modern fireproofing features toprotect the temple’s famous, ancient statuary they house.

Concurrently, other temples have sought to meld traditional esthetics to a modernistsensibility using new materials of reinforced concrete, steel, and glass. Among the firstand most ambitious of the buildings in this style was a new main hall for NaritasanShinsh�oji in Narita in 1964 (Fig. 20), designed by Yoshida Isoya (1894–1974), betterknown for his secular buildings. Shinsh�oji has other new buildings as well, including agiant Peace Pagoda, completed in 1984. For that it commissioned the Kyoto-basedMatsuhisa Bussho, the foremost free-lance traditional Buddhist image-making atelier inJapan to create the main sculptural group within the pagoda, enormous statues of the fiveWrathful Wisdom Kings (My�o�o) (Fig. 21), guardians of Buddhism. The brightly paintedand gilt wood icons created using traditional materials and techniques carved by S�orin(1926–1992), the second generation head of this atelier, and his team, are typical of sacredimagery designed for devotional purposes at contemporary Buddhist institutions (Graham2007, pp. 251–4).

More overt abandonment of traditional temple forms characterizes the temple designs ofmost postwar Japanese architects, typified by buildings at Isshinji in Osaka, famous for its

Figure 19. Great Lecture Hall (Dai K�od�o), Yakushiji, Nara, 2003.

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okotsu butsu statues (Buddhist icons made since the 1880s in a Western-influenced plastercasting technique that incorporated the cremated remains of devotees) (Fig. 22). Most ofIsshinji’s main buildings featuring steel, glass, reinforced concrete, and glass blocks, andhave been designed by architect, Takaguchi Yoshiyuki (b. 1940), who also served as thetemple’s head priest from 1972 to 2005 (Isshinji 2010; Meisei Shuppan 1997, pp. 98–104).These buildings are typified by Isshinji’s main gate (1997), which Takaguchi specifiedshould be flanked by enormous Western-influenced bronze gate guardians (Fig. 23). Somany worshippers visit the temple to pay respects to the okotsu butsu statues that Takaguchidesigned the compound with ample open spaces to accommodate crowds.

In the postwar era, Buddhism also inspired creation of quasi-religious, non-denomina-tional sites of contemplation, epitomized by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum andPark (Hiroshima Peace Site 2010) where the cenotaph (Fig. 24), designed by the site’sarchitect Tange Kenz�o (1913–2005), was erected in 1952 as the focal point of annual

Figure 20. Naritasan Shinsh�oji, Main Hall by architect Yoshida Isoya (1894–1974), 1968, Narita City.

Figure 21. Matsuhisa S�orin (1926–1992), Detail of the first floor sanctuary at the Great Peace Pagoda, NaritasanShinsh�oji, Narita, with a statue of Fud�o My�o�o surrounded by the four other My�o�o and mandala paintings on theadjacent pillars, 1984. Statue in wood with polychrome, cut-gold leaf (kirikane), and crystal eyes.



non-denominational memorial rites (Foard 1994). Temples also have recently begun toadd non-representational Buddhist-inspired artwork, to appeal to visitors desiring a lessformal mode of engaging with their faith. One of these is located at K�osanji (K�osanji2010), near Hiroshima. This temple’s main complex features buildings erected betweenthe 1930s and the 1960s in styles modeled on those at other religious sites (Fig. 25),which has made it popular as both a tourist attraction and site of worship. K�osanji’s foun-der and first priest was a successful industrialist, who dedicated the temple to his mother.The temple’s second abbot, the founder’s son, conceived the new section of the templetogether with Kuetani Kazuto (b. 1942), an acclaimed Japanese marble sculptor based inItaly. He requested that the sculptor design a dynamic space celebrating life, not a static,traditional monument. Kuetani responded by covering over 5,000 square meters of a hilladjacent to the temple’s main compound with three thousand tons of gleaming white

Figure 22. Statues by three generations of the Imamura Ky�ubei family. Buddha statues made of cremated remains(okotsu butsu), 1880s to the present. Cast plaster incorporating cremated human remains, polychrome, and gilt.Height of each statue: approx. 120 cm. Isshinji, Osaka.

Figure 23. Takaguchi Yoshiyuki (b.1940) and Zoka Kenchiku Kenky�usho. Main Gate at Isshinji (viewed from insidetemple courtyard), Osaka, 1997.

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Carrara marble carved into freestanding sculptures, walkways, stairways, a small (Italian)restaurant, and furniture (Fig. 26) called The Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future, itopened in 2000, although the project is ongoing. Kuetani, a peace and environmentalactivist, described his sculpture as

an environment where man, sculpture, and nature balance and understand each other, wherechildren would be eager to leap onto the sculptures, and where hurried working people couldfind a little peace and quiet by being ushered into a time that stands still (Spencer 2005, p. 86).

Kuetani’s approach relates to that of many other contemporary Japanese Buddhist-influenced artists who show their work in venues for display of secular art and not onaltars of temples, both within Japan and abroad. These artists draw inspiration from Bud-dhism’s ideals and create art as a meditative act or as commentary on major problemsendemic to modern life including the dire state of the environment, political violence,

Figure 24. Tange Kenz�o (1913–2005). Cenotaph in the plaza of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Originallyinstalled in 1952. Present structure is a 1985 replacement.

Figure 25. Main Hall, modeled after By�od�oin, Uji. K�osanji, Setoda-ch�o, Ikuchi Island, Hiroshima Prefecture, 1960.



and the suffering of impoverished and persecuted citizens. Their imagery and installationsare imbued with spiritual overtones in alignment with the transnational movement ofBuddhist Modernism (McMahan 2008) embraced by sectarian and non-denominationalpractitioners. The work of new media artist Mariko Mori (b. 1967) seems to fit this des-ignation. Her recent retrospective exhibition, Oneness (Mori 2007), included illustrationsof premodern Japanese Buddhist statues that inspired her (Deitch Projects 2010).

Concluding Comments

Surveying recent literature, this essay has introduced a variety of Buddhist sites andrelated imagery in order to demonstrate both the diversity and vibrancy of Buddhism’svisual culture in Japan since 1600. These visual materials should not be considered asancillary to assessment of recent and contemporary Japanese Buddhism because they serveto both define and chart the trajectory of the faith in Japan. The work of independentJapanese artists, briefly introduced at the end of this essay, who are not affiliated with itsorganized sects, but inspired by the transnational ideals of Buddhist Modernism, suggestan unexpected avenue of expansion of the conception of religiosity in Japanese Buddhismand Japanese Buddhist art.

Short Biography

Patricia J. Graham’s research focuses on various aspects of Japanese art from the earlymodern period to the present. Her numerous publications include Tea of the Sages, the Artof Sencha (Hawaii 1998), the sole Western language study of this Chinese-style tea cere-mony, and Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005 (Hawaii 2007), the onlycomprehensive study in any language of later Japanese Buddhism’s visual culture. In hercurrent research, a follow up this latter book, she is focusing on the influence of Buddhistvalues on contemporary Japanese artists impacted by the transnational movement ofSocially Engaged Buddhism. She has held various fellowships including those from theJapan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, the Fulbright Program, and the NationalEndowment for the Humanities. A recent project she co-directed, Global Partners for Local

Figure 26. Kuetani Kazuto (b. 1942). The Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future (Miraishin no Oka) at K�osanji,Setoda-cho, Ikuchi Island, Hiroshima Prefecture, ongoing from 2000. Large hillside covered with carved whitemarble imported from Carrara, Italy.

408 Patricia Graham


Organic Foods: A U.S.-Japan Exchange Project in Kansas and Saitama, partnered organicfarming professionals and academic researchers to explore ways to revive declining ruralcommunities through increasing interest in small-scale organic farming and tie that topreservation of local cultural heritage. She received a PhD in Japanese art history fromthe University of Kansas and subsequently taught Japanese art and culture at Cornell Uni-versity, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and the University of Kansas, served as a cura-tor of Asian art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Consultant for Japanese Art for theNelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. She is presently an independent scholaraffiliated with the University of Kansas, Center for East Asian Studies as an AdjunctResearch Associate and serves as a consultant and certified appraiser of Chinese, Korean,and Japanese art for museums, individuals, and businesses throughout the United States.

Note

* Correspondence address: Patricia Graham, 1641 Rhode Island Street, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA. E-mail:[email protected]

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Documents

The Visual Culture of Japanese Buddhism from the Early Modern Period to the Present