"Japan is like an oyster.  An oyster dislikes foreign objects: when even the smallest grain of sand or broken shell finds its way inside the oyster shell, the oyster finds the invasion intolerable, so it secretes layer after layer of nacre upon the surface of the offending particle, eventually creating a beautiful pearl.... In like manner, Japan coats all culture from abroad, transforming it into a Japanese-style pearl." 

                                                                                                   -- Alex Kerr, Lost Japan (Melbourne: Lonely Planet Publications, 1996), 231

Each time this topical course is offered, it focuses on a close study of selected texts, practices, or experiences within one or more Asian religious traditions. This section will focus on the processes by which the Japanese absorbed and transformed Chinese and Korean religious concepts, institutions, practices, and texts between roughly 500 and 1200 CE.

Prerequisite: 1 course in Asian Studies 

Course materials:

1. Wm. Th. de Bary, et al, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. I: From Earliest Times to 1600, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001) [SOJT]
   
2. Seiroku Noma, The Arts of Japan, Vol. I: Ancient and Medieval (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2003) [AJ]
3. Edward G. Seidensticker, trans., The Tale of Genji (New York: Vintage Classics, 1990)
4. George J. Tanabe, Jr., ed., Religions of Japan in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999) [RJP]
   
5. Various readings available online [WWW], on reserve at Hutchins Library [R], or provided by instructor

1. Submission of weekly reading responses ( = 1/4 course grade), consisting of comments and questions (not summary) on each week's assigned material of at least 250 words in length, e-mailed directly to the instructor by noon most Wednesdays beginning February 14.  These brief writing assignments will be graded pass/fail and cannot be made up. 
   
2. Presentation of 1 research report ( = 1/4 course grade) on a work of secondary scholarship chosen from a list circulated at the beginning of the term.  Further details regarding this requirement are available here.
3. Delivery of 1 research presentation ( = 1/4 course grade) related to the essay requirement described below.  This presentation should be between 10 and 15 minutes in length and will take place in class on May 16.
4. Submission of 1 research essay ( = 1/4 course grade) on a topic related to early Japanese religion, chosen in consultation with the instructor by April 25 and e-mailed to the instructor by noon on May 21.   This essay should be between 10 and 15 double-space pages of 12-point-font text in length, not including its bibliography.  Attention should be given to evidence from material and visual culture as well as literary and other textual sources.  A bibliography of relevant sources may be found here; a selected list of online resources may be found here.
   

1. Michael Hoffman, "Cultures Combined in the Mists of Time" (WWW)
2. Steve Olson, "The Great Migration: To Asia and Beyond," in Olson, Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins, 123-136 (R 599.9 O527m 2002)
3. Ryusaku Tsunoda and L. C. Goodrich, trans., "Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories" (SOJT 5-13)
   

1. Charles Benn, "Tang Chang'an" (map) and "Cities and Urban Life" in Benn, Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty, xiii-xix, 45-70 (E-book)
2. Victor Cunrui Xiong, "The Marketplaces," in Xiong, Sui-Tang Chang'an: A Study in the Urban History of Medieval China, 165-194 (R 951.43 X6s 2000)
3. Takashi Okazaki, "Japan and the Continent," in John Whitney Hall, et al, eds., The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. I: Ancient Japan, 268-316 (R 952 C178 v.1)
4. N. Harry Rothschild, "Tang Incorporated: The Commodification of History and the Rebirth of Tang Chang’an in the 21st Century" (provided by instructor)
   

1. Michiko Y. Aoki, "Records of the Customs and Land of Izumo" (RJP 113-116)
2. W. G. Aston, et al, trans., "The Earliest Japanese Chronicles" and "Legends Concerning Shinto Deities" (SOJT 13-31)
3. Gary L. Ebersole, "Tama Belief and Practice in Ancient Japan" (RJP 141-152)
4. Seiroku Noma, "From Forest to Village Life" (AJ 11-32)
   

1. W. G. Aston, trans., "The Reign of Suiko and Rule of Shotoku" (SOJT 46-54)
2. William E. Deal, "Hagiography and History: The Image of Prince Shotoku" (RJP 316-333)
3. Seiroku Noma, "The Yamato Region: From Asuka to Ikaruga" (AJ 33-60)
4. Miwa Stevenson, "The Founding of the Monastery Gangoji and a List of Its Treasures" (RJP 299-315)
   

1. W. G. Aston, et al, trans., "Buddhism and the State in Nara Japan" (SOJT 114-120)
2. Charles Holcombe, "The Confucian Monarchy of Nara Japan" (RJP 293-298)
3. Seiroku Noma, "Along the Western Side of Nara" and "The Capital City of Nara" (AJ 61-104)
4. George J. Tanabe, Jr., trans., "The Merger of Buddhist and Shinto Deities" (SOJT 120-121)
   

1. Wm. Th. de Bary, trans., "Annen: Maxims for the Young (Dojikyo)" (SOJT 193-196)
2. Linda Klepinger Keenan, "En the Ascetic" (RJP 343-353)
3. Seiroku Noma, "The Secluded Mountain Temples" (AJ 113-136)
4. Ryusaku Tsunoda and Paul Groner, trans., "Saicho and Mt. Hiei" (SOJT 125-152)

1. David L. Gardiner, "Japan's First Shingon Ceremony" (RJP 153-158)
2. Yoshito S. Hakeda, trans., "Kukai and Esoteric Buddhism" (SOJT 153-174)
3. Seiroku Noma, "In and Around the Heian Capital" (AJ 137-160)
4. George J. Tanabe, Jr., "The Founding of Mount Koya and Kukai's Eternal Meditation" (RJP 354-359)

1. William E. Deal, "Women and Japanese Buddhism: Tales of Birth in the Pure Land" (RJP 176-184)
2. James C. Dobbins, "Genshin’s Deathbed Nembutsu Ritual in Pure Land Buddhism" (RJP 166-175)
3. Seiroku Noma, "From Daigo to Uji" (AJ 161-182)
4. Philip Yampolsky, trans., "Genshin: The Essentials of Salvation" (SOJT 217-222)

1. Richard Bowring, "The Cultural Background," in Bowring, trans., The Tale of Genji, 1-21 (WWW)
2. Resources & Study Questions for The Tale of Genji (WWW)
   
3. The Tale of Genji (entire novel)

1. H. Paul Varley, "The Court at Its Zenith," in Varley, Japanese Culture, 45-69 (R 952 V315j)
2. Lewis Cook, "Introductory Note" (WWW)
   
3. Excerpts from Ise monogatari (WWW)
4. Excerpts from Man'yōshū (provided by instructor)
   

1. Ivan Morris, "Superstitions," in Morris, The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan, 123-140 (R 952.01 M876w 1994)