Comprehensive Research on Religion and the Transmission of the Literary Arts in Medieval Eastern Japan: From the Perspective of Preaching, Origin Tales, and Narrative Literature

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23720116
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: Showa Women's University
• Principal Investigator: ABE MIKA 昭和女子大学, 人間文化学部, 非常勤講師 (10449093)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 唱導 / 中世宗教文芸 / 寺社縁起 / 冥途蘇生譚 / 箱根権現縁起絵巻 / 融通念仏縁起絵巻

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the context of research on Agui preaching (shoudou) sources essential for understanding the religious literature of Eastern Japan, this study focused specifically on the Tenpourin shou held at the Rekihaku. A transcription and annotation of this document was produced through collaborative work, and a report of this research was submitted for the Rekihaku. Research on the Yuzu nenbutsu engi, which became a significant subject of examination in the process of this work, entailed investigations on textual variants held in Japan and abroad. Based on research on the Shouwabon variant from the late Kamakura period, it was possible to clarify various aspects of the formation and evolution of the fund-raising texts (kanjinbon) composed by Ryochin of the Nanboku and Muromachi periods as well as to demonstrate the unparalleled originality of the work as an illustrated scroll for fund-raising. These findings were disseminated broadly both in Japan and abroad.

Free Research Field

人文学（日本中世文学）