Shinsuke Omoya Laboratory

The course presents a view of Japanese civilization as formed by religious　expression,　particularly Buddhism, through a study of its representation in　temple architecture, through its interpretation in films, through its relationship with the development of Japanese household objects and tools, and through a view of human patters and body movements as the Meiji government tried to modernize every domain of cultural and social systems of Japan. Western views will be compared and contrasted in order to better understand Japanese and Eastern views of life and thought.

As adjuncts to classroom lectures, examples of religious influence will be observed in selections from films and anime, and students will participate in a field trip to a manufacturer of family Buddhist altars and/or stay overnight at a　Zen temple. Toward the end of the course, students in class will visit two near-by national treasure Buddhist temples, observing their architecture and appreciating red maple leaves in late autumn at those sights. The goals of the course are to familiarize students with the religious foundations of Japan, and see the manifestations in various media including film and architecture, and also see how those foundations shaped Japan’s modernity. Upon completion of the course, students will have a profound knowledge of Japanese Buddhism, an appreciation of its nature, and its cultural products, particularly those manifested in temple-influenced architecture, film and thought.

Suehisa Kuroda, Professor

Transfiguration of pre-modern techniques of bodies in walking styles and postures and its meanings of their revivals today

Hoyu Ishida, Professor

Time-Space Interformation in Eastern Philosophy, with emphasis on Buddhism and particularity and universality of world religions

Shinsuke Omoya, Professor

Modernization in everyday life - the development of household objects and tools in Japan

Walter Klinger, Associate Professor

Aspects of Japanese history, culture and society as reflected in the films of Japanese directors and in the works of anime

Yoshiyuki Tomishima, Associate Professor

Field trip to national treasure Buddhist temples (Saimyo-ji and Kongorin-ji) in Shiga