In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Chapter Six Expressions of Faith this chapter surveys visual imagery by devout followers of Buddhism during the early modern period. The makers of these images came from all sectors of society and lived in both urban and rural locales. None sold these objects for personal gain. Some trained in studios of professional, secular artists while others were entirely self-taught. Their motivations also varied widely according to personal inclinations and professional needs. Those from affluent families often participated in devotional practices that required great effort over long periods of time; their wealth allowed them the freedom to do so. Their images were prayers for amassing karmic merit in the afterlife for deceased loved ones or were intended to assist temples in furthering the spread of Buddhism more widely. Mendicant monks and others affiliated with temples used imagery they created to propagate Buddhism or distributed it to serve as foci for believers’ prayers. The quantity, quality, and variety of these visual expressions of faith eloquently testify to Buddhism’s ability to inspire artistic creativity among devout professional and amateur artists throughout the era. Only a few of the clerics and devout laity introduced in this chapter grew famous for their imagery during their lifetimes. Of those who did, writers of their day admired them for their piety and for offering inspiration to believers, but except for the few acknowledged as professional artists, their visual imagery was not considered art. Appreciation for the artistic qualities of their creations began only during the twentieth century. For the most part, their imagery remains marginalized from that which constitutes the orthodox canon of Japanese art history. This is especially true for art by the more self-effacing, reclusive Expressions of Faith | 151 of these individuals, such as imperial nuns and daimyo wives, and imagery by itinerant clerics for lowly commoners of outlying villages. Imagery by Imperial Clerics and Elite Samurai The education of Japan’s upper classes and wealthy commoners always included calligraphy and, usually, its sister art of brush painting. Most men learned the academic Kano manner, taught at official domain academies and in privately run studios throughout Japan. The shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, for example, brushed pictures of Kannon (see fig. 1.6) for Yoshiminedera in this style, as did the Kanazawa monk Shingan (whose sculpture of Jizō was discussed in chap. 4; see plate 6). Imperial family members often took the tonsure for financial or political expediency, but for many the motivation stemmed from a sincerity of faith and led them to spend their days creating devotional imagery. The tonsured close relatives of Emperor Gomizunoo produced some of the finest and most unusual of these images. Often they studied with his distinguished Buddhist teachers and important artists whom he patronized. One of Gomizunoo’s grandsons, Tenjin Hoshin’nō (1664–1690), became the fifty-sixth abbot and the second imperial abbot at the Tendai (monzeki) temple of Rinnōji in Nikkō in 1680.¹ Records indicate his interest in Buddhism and scholarly pursuits from his youth. He became adept in the professional Buddhist painting style of the Kimura lineage (see plate 10), whose artists brushed the icons for his temple. His Thousand-Armed Kannon (plate 18), completed in 1689, displays his mastery of meticulous techniques for applying ink, colors, and cut-gold leaf (kirikane) to both the deity and its surrounding hand-painted mounting. Befitting his status, Hoshin’nō learned both the art of calligraphy and painting in his youth; Rinnōji owns other examples of his artistic aptitude.² Eight of Gomizunoo’s thirteen daughters and thirteen of his granddaughters became nuns (Fister 2003, 17). The impressive quantity and quality of the devotional imagery these women created resulted in large part from their observance of the tenets of the Lotus Sutra. Women most frequently copied this sutra because one section of it describes Kannon delivering a sermon to women, stating that in exchange for their devout belief he would liberate them from suffering in their next lives. The sutra advised that spiritual merit could accrue from copying its text and creating devotional images based on it. Consequently, devotion to Kannon and the abundant production of Kannon images were especially popular among women (Fister 2003, 18). In some of Kannon’s thirty-three forms described in the Lotus Sutra, based on Chinese prototypes and derived from newly invented later Chinese forms of the deity, s/he appears as a woman. As expected, these manifestations found particular favor among...

Share