Ian Henderson

Hi everyone, I hope you now have an invite to join this group (Japan trip 2008). The reason for this group blog is to make the discussions/comments/responses which we have been having either on our own separate blogs or as post responses on blogs in our neighbourhood, more communal, easier to access and easier to have a 'joint' conversation. At the present time this seems most useful for our semunars, but I'm sure will also be useful for our trip.  My first suggestion is to put our posed seminar questions up. Then any responses are there to see, instead of searching in each others' blogs.

Cheers, Ian

Your seminar neatly summarised the beginnings of Buddhism and something of the society it grew out of in northern India. Of course it evolved into a different sort of beast in China, in its contact with Taoism and Confucianism (as you suggest). It was this Buddhism which was imported into Japan. And once there, with frequent imports of later forms and 'Japanisation' of these, partly through 'assimilation' (a loose word to use here I think) with Shinto, became its own particularly Japanese Buddhism - of course with different sects and practices. Buddhism will be of  particular interest to us because so many of the gardens we visit are part of Buddhist temples. Some of these have been designed to be directly associated with temple activities and practices, eg karesansui, dry raked gardens, which are particularly associated with Zen Buddhism. Other gardens however have been inherited by the temples because the land and buildings were donated to various sects by aristocratic, shogunate or imperial families, often with the grounds or gardens already developed.  

I have made a few additions to the booklist on shortloan at the library - they mainly cover architecture and cultural/craft/design matters - some of them may be useful for those doing seminars on these things, but may also be of general interest.