My April 9 Seattle Lecture: "Forever Banished: Restrictions Regarding Women at Mt. Kōya"

FRIDAY APRIL 9, 5:30-6:30 
Lindsey DeWitt, Ph.D. Candidate, UCLA (Buddhist Studies)
Mt. Kôya and Buddhist Restrictions to Women in Pre-Modern Japan
Art Building Room 317, University of Washington

Forever Banished: Restrictions Regarding Women at Mt. Kōya 
Mt. Kōya has been one of the most sacred pilgrimage, worship, and training sites in Japan since the ninth-century, drawing devotees across geographic, sectarian, class, and gender barriers. This sacred mountain and its religious institutions are regarded as paradigmatic examples of Japan’s rich religious history and culture, yet most Japanese and Western descriptions ignore the fact that one half of the population – women – was excluded for most of its history. This paper examines the history of women’s restrictions at Mt. Kōya by looking at stories about Kūkai’s 空海 (774-835) mother. I argue that gender, as symbolized by this female figure, constitutes a key variable in the construction of sacred space and the exclusion of women from it.

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