I find it interesting how Buddism played an important role in Japanese history and culture as early as 500 A.D. In Japan there were other religious beliefs such as Shinto, being practiced along with Buddism. Several emperors favored the practice of Buddism, Emperor Shōmu help their monasteries to gain a lot of power around Nara. This increase of power in the region motivated Emperor Kanmu to moving of the imperial capital away from this region, in an attemp to diminish Buddism influence in the government, to an area near present day Kyoto.

Around the year 804 A.D. Emperor Kanmu send monk Seichō to China to learn new Buddism teachings. Seichō fullfilled his duty and brought back to Japan the Tendai doctrine of Buddism, universal salvation.  It presented the Tendai doctrine as superior, but allowed the religious practices of older sects.

According to the text, Buddism also played an crucial role in the development of written language in Japan. Prior to the introduction of Buddism to Japan, Japanese did not have a witten language. The initial Buddist text where brought in from Korea, who at the time were writing in Chinese. This led to the introduction of Chinese culture an ideology into Japan.  Eventually, after a long time, Chinese writing combined with Japanese spoken language to give birth to Japanese written language.

Along with Buddism teachings came Buddist temples, which helped to bring more complex architecture into Japan. At first just copying Chinese temples and mansions, but later developing into is own style.

Wow, everyday I am learning something new.

I definitely appreciated last night's lecture's emphasis on challenging dominant narrativesabout Japanese history. Professor Hirano established the dominant narrative of the period and how different elements, such as the samura, are romanticized, before shifting to discuss how those narratives developed. In the process, he exposed us to a more complex and nuanced version of the history. 

This is a great practice to use with students. Read a text containing a dominant narrative, and then proceed to complicate it with different perspectives and voices. Focusing on a high-interest topic, such as samurai, is a great way to hook students into this rigorous historical analysis. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Professor Hirano's lecture. He brings great insight and perspective into Japanese history - a subject I really need to learn more about. One of the things that really struck me was the fact that even Japan has been around for a long time, and I always thought of it as having kept a very detailed history, new discoveries about its past are continually being made. It reminded me that history is written by the victors, and that they sometimes spin the facts to present a narrative that they want told, even though it may not be accurate. 

So often people say that history is always the same and that you only need to update history books to add information about events that have taken place since the last book was written. This lecture shows just how wrong that sentiment is. As historians conduct more research and discover more records from the past, differening accounts and new discoveries can change the narrative that has always been told.

Amy, I had the same misconceptions about Samurais, in part due to Hollywood movies, but also due to some amazing Japanese movies such as Seven Samurai (they were Ronin, but still miscalled Samurai instead of Bushi) . Yojimbo, and Sanjuro (the main character is a Ronin Bushi a.k.a. Ronin Samurai) also sell us the image of extremely loyal warriors who would fight for their master against all odds. I enjoyed the lecture, even after learning that everything that I knew about Samurais was wrong. The Bushidan were the closest to the image of  the Samurai that we have been sold by the movies and literature.

During our seventh session, I was sometimes reminded of the Animal Farm idea that all animals are created equal with some animals more equal than others.  I say this because on a couple of occasions we learned that "Japanese" (Japan had not been formed yet) aristocrats often found ways to keep themselves "more equal" than others.  Sometimes this was in their use of Buddhism.  Other times it was in the making of laws which protected their interests.  A specific example was given in regards to the Byodo'in Temple.  While the temple emphasizes that all humans are equal, it is only the aristocrats which are allowed to enter the temple to pray.  Those who are not aristocrats can enjoy the surrounding gardens and a glimpse through a small window to see the Golden Buddha within.  I can envision great discussions with students regarding when equal really is equal and when equal is not so equal.  

Another emphasis of Session Seven was the distinction between the samurai warriors and the Bushi.  It seems that almost everything we have come to associate with samurai in popular movies and culture really were aspects of the Bushi.  Taking the time to understand these distinctions could be beneficial for not only ourselves but also our students.  

I love the difference between modern history of japan and ancient history of japan. It really puts into perspective how long Japan has been around, but also, the fact that its not the same Japan that you think about now a day. It causes me to really think about the importance of history books, to think that when you only teach the history of “modern” _____ there is a big chunk of the story that is missing. When you have control over the history books, you also have control over the way your story (or the story of the country) is presented. The fact that there are certain things that are off limits for research purposes is also very limiting in terms of history. I want to know if the first emperor was Korean, I want to know what is in those off limit rooms and temples. This also causes me to reflect on our own history. Currently, I feel as though we are rewriting history by bringing in more stories, and more perspectives. Our history books share limited perspectives, and it is our job to go to those “off limits” rooms and bring those stories into our classrooms. I love that in Japan history is presented as literature, because it leaves room to see it as slightly objective and allows us to read/learn other perspectives and still see both as truths.

Your post points out the tremendous role that Buddhism has had in the shaping of Japan. This has made me think about ways religion has shaped other countries. I would like to put together an assignment where my students take a country/civilization and trace the role religion had in the formation of that country/civilization. It's interesting to see just how much church and state have been tied together in almost every society.