Temples of Kyoto

Perhaps no other single institution has played a more crucial role in the development and preservation of Japanese art and other forms of visual culture than the Buddhist temple, itself an entity that has undergone significant change, particularly in the modern period. This seminar will examine Buddhist temples in the city of Kyoto, Japan’s imperial capital from 794-1867 from their beginnings in the late eighth century into the early modern period. Although architecture and sculpture will be our primary areas of focus, the course will provide students with multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives on the diverse forms of institutional organization, architecture, art, and liturgy that comprise Buddhist houses of worship, with particular attention to their development in the city of Kyoto. We will take a site-specific approach, attending to the following general issues: the legacy of continental practices in such early monasteries as Hōryūji and Tōdaiji in Nara; adaptations to Japanese urban space and landscape at Tōji and Enryakuji; physical changes in temples with the introduction of new sects such as Zen and Pure Land Buddhism; and the transformation of temples in the early modern period.

A week-long visit to Kyoto during the first week of November (week of election-day holiday) will be the highlight of the course. In Kyoto we will visit temples and museums to see first-hand the monuments we have studied in the course. Students will compile presentations in advance to serve as the main guides for our visit. These presentations will form a basis for final papers, which will be presented in class during the last three weeks of the semester, and which will be due in written form at the last class of the semester.