Reading the medieval Buddhist manuals for the ritual of enthronement (sokuihô)

Dr. Ikuyo Matsumoto (Yokohama City University)

Abstract

We will read a selection of passages from the manuals of abhiseka for the emperor compiled by monks of the Shingon lineages.

Bio

Ikuyo Matsumoto is Associate Professor of Japanese Cultural History and Medieval Japanese History at Yokohama City University. Her current research interests address the development of a culture of religious secrecy in medieval Japan as expressed through visual images and texts. 

Dr. Matsumoto has published widely on medieval Buddhist rituals, including: Chûsei ôken to sokui kanjô: Shogyô no naka no rekishi jujutsu (“Royal Authority in Medieval Japan and the Enthronement Initiation Ritual: Historical Evidence from Buddhist Scriptures”), Tokyo: Shinwasha, 2005; Ten'nô no sokui girei to shinbutsu (“The Emperor's Ascension Rituals and the Kami and Buddhas”)，Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 2017; Girei no chikara: Chûsei shûkyô no jissen sekai (“The Power of Ritual: The World of Religious Practice in Medieval Japan”)，co-ed., Kyoto: Hozokan, 2010. Other publications include Fûzoku kaiga no bunkagaku ("Cultural Studies of Genre Paintings"), 3 vols, co-ed., Kyoto: Shibunkaku, 2009, 2012, 2014 and a database of classical maps from the archives of Yokohama City University, which includes some Bonreki (Buddhist calendar) Maps.