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28 pages, 12915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Kami Fumi-e: Japanese Paper Images to Be Trampled on—A Mystery Resolved

by Riccardo Montanari, Philippe Colomban, Maria Francesca Alberghina, Salvatore Schiavone and Claudia Pelosi

Heritage 2025, 8(2), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8020078 - 16 Feb 2025

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Abstract

There has been long-standing debate as to whether Kami Fumi-e (paper images to be trampled on) had actually been used in image trampling sessions as part of the 250-year persecution of Christianity enforced by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Sacred images of Christianity officially recorded to have been trampled on are housed in the permanent collection of the Tokyo National Museum and are almost uniquely made of metal alloy. The controversy regarding paper images, apart from the medium being considered unsuitable for such extreme use, was fueled by the appearance of a significant number of them in museum collections and institutions worldwide in the 20th century. Most of the prints bear dates from different eras of the Edo period, sometimes hundreds of years apart; therefore, long-standing arguments regarding their authenticity marked the last century. In order to distinguish later copies from potentially original pieces, if ever existed, XRF, Raman, and FTIR analytical techniques were used to study the materials characterizing them. In addition, detailed observation of the main visual features (overall design composition, inscriptions, paper support, etc.) was carried out to highlight potential discrepancies that could pair with scientific evidence and lead to a definitive conclusion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Collection Feature Papers)

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23 pages, 991 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sessō Sōsai and the Chinese Anti-Christian Discourse

by Qiaoyu Han

Religions 2023, 14(8), 1058; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081058 - 18 Aug 2023

Viewed by 2091

Abstract

The early Tokugawa period witnessed the establishment of anti-Christian policy as a significant agenda. In 1647, Sessō Sōsai, a Zen monk, undertook the task of delivering sermons in Nagasaki, aiming to convert the local population to Buddhism. Following his preaching, Sessō authored two anti-Christian texts, with the second text reflecting a pronounced influence from Chinese Buddhist anti-Christian discourse. This article seeks to explore the correlation between Sessō’s anti-Christian writings and his engagement with the Chinese Buddhist community in Nagasaki. By delving into the analysis of personal networks, this study illustrates Sessō’s familiarity with the evolution of Buddhism in China and his incorporation of ideas from the Chinese Buddhist anti-Christian movement during his time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Texts, Interpretations, and Reception Histories in Chinese Christianity)

31 pages, 4634 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tracing the Influence of Ming-Qing Buddhism in Early Modern Japan: Yunqi Zhuhong’s Tract on Refraining from Killing and on Releasing Life and Ritual Animal Releases

by Barbara R. Ambros

Religions 2021, 12(10), 889; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100889 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4868

Abstract

This essay traces the Japanese reception of Zhuhong’s Tract on Refraining from Killing and on Releasing Life in the early modern period. Ritual animal releases have a long history in Japan beginning in the seventh century, approximately two centuries after such rituals arose in China. From the mid-eighth century, the releases became large-scale state rites conducted at Hachiman shrines, which have been most widely studied and documented. By contrast, a different strand of life releases that emerged in the Edo period owing to the influence of late Ming Buddhism has received comparatively little scholarly attention despite the significance for the period. Not only may the publication of a Sino–Japanese edition of Zhuhong’s Tract in 1661 have been an impetus for Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s Laws of Compassion in the late-seventeenth century, but also approximately thirty Japanese Buddhist texts inspired by Zhuhong’s Tract appeared over the next two and a half centuries. As Zhuhong’s ethic of refraining from killing and releasing life was assimilated over the course of the Edo and into the Meiji period, life releases became primarily associated with generating merit for the posthumous repose of the ancestors although they were also said to have a variety of vital benefits for the devotees and their families, such as health, longevity, prosperity, and descendants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Influences on Japanese Religious Traditions)

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11 pages, 622 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hostile Natives: Violence in the Histories of American and Japanese Nativism

by Mark Thomas McNally

Religions 2018, 9(5), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9050164 - 18 May 2018

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3697

Abstract

This article shows how inaccurate the category of nativism—derived from American historiography—is when applied to the Japanese context prevailing when National Learning (Kokugaku) was flourishing. It argues that violence is not a distinctive feature of Kokugaku and suggests that the association between nativism and Kokugaku in Japanese studies is flawed. This is further complicated by examining instances of physical violence directed at foreigners and Japanese alike, which surged during the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, when the slogan “revere the emperor and expel the barbarian” (sonnō-jō’i) resulted in extreme violence and assassinations. Victims of such attacks were not limited to Westerners, since Katsu Kaishū was almost killed by Sakamoto Ryōma. While significant portions of the Japanese elite began to advocate opening the country (kaikoku), many among them remained divided in their attitude toward Western learning and its necessity. This leads to the conclusion that Kokugaku was not an example of Tokugawa nativism, let alone the example of Tokugawa nativism, and that it would be better to develop a hybrid category of nativism applicable to that era. Such category results from combining Ralph Linton’s concept of nativism with John Higham’s characterization of nativism as marked by extreme hostility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engaging Violence: Case Studies from the Japanese Religious Traditions)

13 pages, 659 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Discourses on Religious Violence in Premodern Japan

by Mikael Adolphson

Religions 2018, 9(5), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9050149 - 6 May 2018

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4158

Abstract

This article asks what religious violence is and why it is relevant. It questions common assumptions by focusing on how monastic violence unfolded in premodern Japan. It argues that there was nothing that set this particular form of violence apart in terms of what the clerics fought for, their ideological justification, who fought, or how they fought. Although myths prevail on the largely fictive figure of the sōhei, or “monk-warriors,” closer scrutiny indicates that their depiction first emerged as a coherent literary concept in the early Tokugawa period. Regarding the ideological framework in which incidents of so-called monastic violence took place, the paper demonstrates that the individuals involved in such conflicts—including the clerics—cannot be dissociated from their own socio-historical context. This is because the medieval Japanese setting was based on rules of cooperation that also implied competition among various elites. The paper further complicates our understanding by showing that the central issue is not why specific violent events involving clerics occurred, but rather what constituted the mental framework—or mentalité—of the age, and how it allowed religious institutions to play such a prominent role. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engaging Violence: Case Studies from the Japanese Religious Traditions)

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