TY - BOOK ID - 110529168 TI - Faith and power in Japanese Buddhist art (1600-2005) PY - 2007 SN - 9780824831912 9780824831264 0824831268 0824831918 0824862465 1435666569 9780824862466 9781435666566 PB - Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, DB - UniCat KW - Buddhism - Japan - History - 1600-1868. KW - Buddhism - Japan - History - 1868-1945. KW - Buddhism - Japan - History - 1945 KW - -Buddhist arts - Japan. KW - Buddhist arts KW - Buddhism KW - Arts, Buddhist KW - Arts KW - History UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:110529168 AB - Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art explores the transformation of Buddhism from the premodern to the contemporary era in Japan and the central role its visual culture has played in this transformation. Although Buddhism is generally regarded as peripheral to modern Japanese society, this book demonstrates otherwise. Its chapters elucidate the thread of change over time in the practice of Buddhism as revealed in temple worship halls and other sites of devotion and in imagery representing the religion’s most popular deities and religious practices. It also introduces the work of modern and contemporary artists who are not generally associated with institutional Buddhism and its canonical visual requirements but whose faith inspires their art.The author makes a persuasive argument that the neglect of these materials by scholars results from erroneous presumptions about the aesthetic superiority of early Japanese Buddhist artifacts and an asserted decline in the institutional power of the religion after the sixteenth century. She demonstrates that recent works constitute a significant contribution to the history of Japanese art and architecture, providing evidence of Buddhism’s compelling presence at all levels of Japanese society and its evolution in response to the needs of new generations of supporters. ER -