Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan (review)

Over the past several years, the study of Buddhist images has gone through many significant changes; no longer are such images seen primarily as art objects—representations of the aesthetic sensibility of specific people and historical periods—or as iconographic embodiments of doctrines. Instead, authors increasingly tend to address issues such as the ritual contexts in which images were used and the theories of representation that lie at the basis of their production. In particular, several studies have shown that Buddhist images are often treated as "living presences" of the sacred located at the center of numerous ritual activities and doctrinal speculations.

Sarah Horton situates her book within this same interpretive approach. In the introductory chapter, titled "Living Buddhist Statues," Horton describes the book's main focus as the "ways in which Japanese worshippers have treated and continue to treat Buddhist statues as living beings with whom they engage in reciprocal relationships" (p. 3). The introduction is short but informative, and it covers many issues related to the status of icons, their modes of display, and their ritual uses, with an overall emphasis on animation. The chapters are typically structured as follows: They open with a fieldwork description of a contemporary ritual performance centered on an important Buddhist image, turn to a history of the icon involved, and give a few references to canonical scriptures on the worship of that image. Next, there is an extended section on medieval tales and rituals; the last portion of each chapter suggests connections between medieval lore and contemporary practices. The final chapter, on secret buddhas, is different, being a general introduction to some aspects of this fascinating type of icon.

The book describes ritual interaction with some of the most representative Buddhist images in Japan, namely, Śākyamuni, the Buddha Amida, and the bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizō, and with examples of hidden images (hibutsu, literally, "secret buddhas"). These icons appear to have been chosen mostly because of their "popularity": Horton refers to the four entities on whom she focuses as "the two most popular buddhas and the two most popular bodhisattvas in Japan, historically speaking" (p. 20), although she gives no specific figures or criteria to ground this claim; the final chapter on secret buddhas seems to have been motivated primarily by current media interest in such icons (a different form of popularity). Nevertheless, among the images discussed in the book we find indeed important and "popular" ones, such as the Śākyamuni at Seiryōji (Kyoto); the Amida icons at Zenkōji (Nagano) and Eikandō (Kyoto); the Yumedono Kannon at Hōryūji (near Nara); the Kannon icons at Kiyomizudera and Rokuharamitsuji (Kyoto), Kanshinji (Osaka), Kokawadera (Wakayama prefecture), Sensōji (Tokyo), Tōdaiji's Nigatsudō (Nara), Hasedera (Nara prefecture), and Ishiyamadera (Shiga prefecture); and the Jizō at Rokudō Chinnōji (Kyoto) and the so-called Tama Jizō at Shin Yakushiji (Nara).

In addition, the book presents rituals and ceremonies centered on these icons, such as the Buddha's "birthday" (gōtan-e or hana matsuri), Amida's welcoming ceremonies (raigō), Kannon-related pilgrimages, and multiple practices related to Jizō and secret buddhas. These sections of the book are especially valuable, since they make available to readers important aspects of contemporary Japanese Buddhist religiosity.

Methodologically, the book describes how ordinary people ("particularly the non-clerical worshippers," p. 3) deal with these images, utilizing firsthand observations Horton made during her own fieldwork together with evidence from temple brochures and recent bestsellers about Buddhist images written by media personalities (in particular, the Kenbutsuki series—Kadokawa 1997, 1999, 2006—by Itō Seikō and illustrator Miura Jun and the book Ōkii butsuzō chiisai butsuzō—Tōkyo Shoseki, 2003—by fashion model Hana). Scholars tend to ignore print material of this sort, despite the fact that it would appear to constitute an important source for understanding Japanese interactions with Buddhist images. As noted above, the book also makes connections between contemporary attitudes and those presented in a number of...