Event Details:

Join us for a compelling lecture that examines the complex interplay between gender, sin, and salvation in premodern Japanese Buddhism. While the tradition promises that anyone who recalls Amida Buddha at the moment of death may enter his Pure Land, numerous narratives suggest that women and sinful men face overwhelming karmic obstacles, making descent into hell seem inevitable regardless of their devotion. This talk explores how these individuals were portrayed in Buddhist hell paintings of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and the spiritual journeys they undertook to escape damnation. Through visual analysis and historical context, the lecture reveals how such artworks shaped and challenged doctrinal frameworks, offering insight into how ritual practice and artistic production contributed to evolving discourses on salvation.

Dr. Mimi Chusid, assistant professor of Japanese art history at the University of Washington, Seattle, will lead the discussion. Her scholarship focuses on Japanese Buddhist visual culture, particularly in the premodern period, with research interests that include the intersection of art, ritual, and text; the role of women in religious image-making and reception; Buddhist materialities; and the implications of conservation in art historical inquiry. Her forthcoming book, The Ill-Fated Afterlife: Painting the Buddhist Cosmos in Premodern Japan, will be published by the University of Washington Press in 2026.

This event, hosted by Professors Michael Toole and Ethan Segal, is made possible by the Japan Council Endowment administered by the MSU Asian Studies Center.