Mountain Mandalas

Rich in details and thought-provoking as it provides an approach to aspects of Japanese religiosity through a focus on “spaciality” which is the guideline throughout this volume … extremely important and useful … a major contribution on this topic with interesting cross-references … * Religious Studies Review * Mountain Mandalas is thought provoking and Grapard’s prose, ever inventive and sometimes even amazing, makes it a fun read … It is a rich and rewarding book for specialists in Japanese religious history and should provoke a range of discussions and further research for years to come. * The Journal of Japanese Studies * Mountain Mandalas marks the culmination of many years of research by a scholar of great erudition. The author’s pioneering insights and lengthy translations of primary sources—most (all?) presented for the first time in English—deserve thankful praise. * Japanese Journal of Religious Studies * In Mountain Mandalas Allan Grapard writes with the confidence and clarity of a seasoned scholar to provide an illuminating and thought-provoking history of the Japanese Shugendo tradition in Kyushu. His study of Mount Hiko, Usa-Hachiman, and the Kunisaki Peninsula is a methodologically sophisticated work that effectively draws from the disciplines of geography, history, anthropology, sociology, and humanistic geography. Grapard has a singularly masterful command of the long sweep of Japanese religious history and the broad reach of Japanese religious geography. Mountain Mandalas makes for fascinating reading by anyone interested in how complex Buddhist doctrinal ideas were mapped onto striking topographic arrangements through the process of “mandalization” and the way that the landscape of premodern Japan was shaped as much by sophisticated minds as it was by their skillful hands. Readers will be delighted by Grapard’s extremely interesting forays into Hiko’s “nocturnal architecture,” the lore and symbolism surrounding swords, institutional history, ritual analysis, visualization, and the labyrinthine symbolism of Esoteric Buddhism. Grapard’s book provides a compelling model for the way other religious sites might best be studied from a geographical and historical perspective. * James Robson, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, USA * Allan Grapard's book is a rich, brilliant and thought-provoking exploration of Shugendo (Japanese mountain cults). Focusing on three adjacents regions in the northeastern part of Kyushu island (Mount Hiko, Usa, and the Kunisaki Peninsula), it combines a broad interdisciplinary approach, a deep knowledge of the textual tradition, and an imaginative interpretation. It will be a landmark in the study of Japanese religion. * Bernard Faure, Kao Professor of Japanese Religions, Columbia University, USA * Mountain Mandalas is the marvellous outcome of many years of work, and a profoundly insightful analysis of historical sources. Mountain Mandalas enhances our knowledge of Hachiman. * Japan Review *