Kyoto Asian Studies Group June meeting

[niels van steenpaal]

Dear colleagues,

 

The speaker for the June meeting of the Kyoto Asian Studies Group is Sara Atwood, who will present “The Kii no kuni meisho zue and the Possibility of Edo period (1603-1868) Women’s Enlightenment through Pilgrimage to Mount Kōya” (see abstract below).    

 

The talk will be held on Friday, June 27th, 17:30-19:30 Seminar Room 8 (第8演習室), on the basement floor of Research Bldg. No. 2 (総合研究2号館), on the Kyoto University Main Campus (see link below for access information).

 

 

Abstract

 

The Kii no kuni meisho zue and the Possibility of Edo period (1603-1868) Women’s Enlightenment through Pilgrimage to Mount Kōya.

 

Mount Kōya, the headquarters of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, has been an important pilgrimage destination for both men and women since its founding in 816. However, the nyonin kekkai (barrier against women) around the perimeter of the temple complex prevented female pilgrims from worshipping in the same way as their male contemporaries until the early twentieth century. Instead of setting foot inside the inner precinct, they worshipped at nyonindō (women’s halls) and walked along the nyonin michi (women’s trail) encircling the monastic compound. In my PhD research, I analyse travel diaries written by five women between 1788 and 1862 alongside contemporaneous visual and material culture, such as the Kii no kuni meisho zue (Illustrated guide to famous places in Kii Province), as a means of visualising their pilgrimages and discussing Edo period women’s experiences at Mount Kōya more broadly. The Kii no kuni meisho zue not only illustrates how the temple complex and surrounding areas appeared during this time but also includes detailed explanations about the monastery. In one such passage, the guidebook states that it was possible for women to attain enlightenment by worshipping at Mount Kōya. In this talk, I will discuss the first stage of women’s enlightenment journeys—ascending the mountain—and will explore what women wrote in their travel diaries about the climb to convey their personal and shared experiences as pilgrims to Mount Kōya.

 

 

Sara Atwood is a Ph.D. by Distance student in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh.

 

For access information see: 

https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/access/main-campus-map

(the venue is on the south side of the basement floor of the building listed on the map as nr. 34)    

 

Please refrain from bringing food into the meeting room.    

 

Contact: Niels van Steenpaal, nielsvan...@hotmail.com

 

 

About the Kyoto Asian Studies Group:

The KASG is a long-standing Kyoto-based research network that hosts monthly research presentations by experts from various Asian Studies fields. Emphasizing long Q&A sessions, we aim to provide an informal atmosphere in which scholars can freely exchange ideas concerning both finished and in-progress research. Admission is free, and we always welcome new members and presenters.

[India Japan Linkages]

Dear Colleagues 

An international India-Japan Conference: 

"Lived Seasons and Intercultural Human Encounters"

 will be held in New Delhi, India, March 6-7/8, 2026

Those interested in making presentations at the Conference may submit an abstract by August 16, 2025.  An announcement inviting abstracts is attached. 

Conference Theme 

The interdisciplinary seminar explores  the lesser-studied dimensions of India-Japan cultural encounters in 19^th and early 20^th centuries, shaped by lived experiences, shared aspirations, and cross-cultural engagements that were  facilitated by the commencement of regular Japanese shipping lines: Yokohama-Bombay (1885), followed by Kobe-Bombay (1892), and Kobe-Calcutta (1911) enabling  travels and people-to-people interactions between pre-independent India and Japan. These exchanges—varied in duration, context, and intensity—nucleated new areas and facets of mutual interest and collaborations.  Rooted in a period marked by transformative aspirations—India’s evolving vision of post-colonial nationhood and Japan’s rapid rise as an industrialized Asian power—these exchanges offer a rich field of inquiry into how people imagined, experienced, and enacted cultural dialogues through the study of travelogues, memoirs, personal diaries, letters, and a range of visual and textual sources.

Thematic Sessions 

 

·       From an Artist’s Iris: Heritage, aesthetics, and visual culture.

·       Travel Narratives: Memoirs, diaries, and letters.

·       Facets of Community and Society: Diaspora, society, and trade networks.

·       Cultural Dialogues: Educational, artistic and intellectual exchanges.

Please publicise the announcement 

Prof Sushila Narsimhan

Conference Convenor