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Abstract:

This paper examines, based on concrete examples, ways in which the artificial bodies of Japanese Buddhist sculptures have been created and explores the relevant background ideas and assumptions. Particular “bodies” of Japanese sculpture can be associated, to a lesser or greater extent, with the understanding of the human body; however, in certain aspects they constitute their own reality. These variations create what I have called “the spectrum of corporeality” in Japanese Buddhist sculpture. Specifically, I review ways in which statues have been empowered as sacred objects and approximated to real beings that have their own bodies. In addition, I discuss the cult of monk mummies (whole-body relics) and the religious processions in which people “play” bodhisattvas. At first sight, the last two phenomena seem to be unrelated to sculpture, but I have tried to show a direct connection between them. Having united and combined various ideas and techniques in my discussion on “the spectrum of corporeality”, I use concrete examples from the history of Japanese Buddhist sculpture. Being an overview of practices and phenomena that have been well researched separately, this paper contributes to the existing historiography on the ontology of Buddhist imagery.