Pilgrim's Guide To Forty-Six Temples

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 368 pages
• Published by: Weatherhill
• Edition: 1st Edition June 1, 1990
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0834802112
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0834802117
• Book Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 13 ounces

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

Reader Reviews
The title of this book is perfectly straightforward. It's also a bit misleading, for by "pilgrim" Usui Shiro clearly does not mean Buddhists traveling to a specific temple or circuit of temples for plainly religious motives. When folks such as this do appear, they are depicted third person almost as romantic aspects of the temple landscape rather than cohorts with which the author identifies. This is not a guide for their use. And yet something more than the average casual tourist is obviously intended, judging from Usui's rather dismissive annoyance with the latter. Who are the "pilgrims" for whom this guide is intended, then? It's hard to say exactly, but semi-secular university-educated city-slickers seeking some sort of personal spiritual inspiration from the art, architecture, and scenery of Japan's older Buddhist temples seem to be the implied audience. Cultural pilgrims in the tradition of Watsuji Tetsuro, one might say. Which probably pretty much approximates the orientation of most English speakers in Japan interested in visiting the forty-six temples in question, making this translation of Usui's Japanese work "Koji Junrei Hitori Tabi" quite useful for such purposes. And this guide is definitely meant to be used practically, including maps and transportation directions as well as visiting information, notes on when and if certain temple buildings are open to the public, and a calendar of major special events. Each temple is the subject of a short, rather impressionistic and sometimes ramblingly diffuse meditative essay by Usui, after which facts about the temple (sect, principle image, when and by whom it was established, and cultural properties) are listed in outline form. Almost all of the temples are located in Kyoto and Nara or thereabouts, Koyasan Kongobuji and Eiheiji being the farthest outliers. Given the cultural nature of Usui's pilgrimage, references to poets and novelists and their impressions of these temples abound in the essays--including Mori Ogai, Shiga Naoya, Yosano Akiko, Inoue Yasushi, Shiba Ryotaro, Ariyoshi Sawako, and Mishima Yukio, among others. The poems (tanka, apparently) of Aizu Yaichi on the Nara temples are quoted extensively. Less common but equally interesting are reflections by some of the temples' abbots on their institution's significance and aesthetic impact. The founding monks and their Buddhist doctrines get short shrift here with a faux-populist nonchalance that will make even the most easygoing Buddhologist wince, however. Still, that information can be found elsewhere, whereas for actually getting around the great temples of Kyoto and Nara this handy, eminently portable little tome is extremely useful as well as poetically evocative. P.S. The forty-six temples covered in this book are as follows: Eastern Kyoto: Myohoin and Sanjusangendo, Sen'yuji, Kiyomizudera, Rokuharamitsuji, Chion-in, Nanzenji, and Zenrinji Northern Kyoto: Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji, Manshu-in, Sanzen-in, Kuramadera, Daitokuji, and Shokokuji Western Kyoto: Ninnaji, Myoshinji, Koryuji, Daikakuji, Seiryoji, Tenryuji, Kozanji, and Jingoji Southern Kyoto: Toji, Hokaiji, Daigoji, Manpukuji, and Byodo-in Nara: Joruriji, Todaiji, Kofukuji, Shin Yakushiji, Hokkeji, Saidaiji, Toshodaiji, and Yakushiji The Outskirts of Nara: Horyuji, Taimadera, Hasedera, and Muroji Other Areas: Kongobuji, Enryakuji, Saikyoji, Miidera, Ishiyamadera, Chikubushima, Hogonji, and Eiheiji Comment | | (Report this)