Author Archives: bdlowe

Shōsōin Documents Now Available for Online Viewing

Posted on January 9, 2020 by bdlowe

This is a game changer. The entire Shōsōin document corpus is now available online for viewing through the Office of the Shōsōin’s home page, which is available in English and Japanese. You can access it via the search link and … Continue reading →

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Shosoin Events This Fall

Posted on October 25, 2019 by bdlowe

It’s October, which means lots of Shōsōin events. First, there’s the rare Tokyo Shōsōin exhibition, which runs from 10/14–11/24: Then, there’s the annual Nara one from 10/26–11/14: Finally, there’s the annual Shōsōin conference on 10/26: I really wish I could … Continue reading →

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New Website

Posted on July 9, 2019 by bdlowe

With the help of Jeff Guest, I’ve moved the page to this new address, as I start my new job at Princeton University as an assistant professor in the Department of Religion. A fairly swamped schedule will prevent any major … Continue reading →

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Crowdfunding for Shōsōin Reproductions

Posted on February 18, 2018 by bdlowe

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. The National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku) has been engaged in a long term project to create reproductions of Shōsōin documents (including the one used as the banner for … Continue reading →

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New Books Network Interview

Posted on December 4, 2017 by bdlowe

Here’s another interview I did about my book. This one was with Luke Thompson for the New Books Network. I talk about the Shōsōin collection a bit, and I hope the interview also gives a sense of why the Shōsōin … Continue reading →

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2017 Shōsōin exhibition and conference plus Tanken bakumon on the Nara period

Posted on October 28, 2017 by bdlowe

‘Tis the Shōsōin season. Unfortunately, teaching responsibilities will prevent me from attending the Shōsōin monjo conference and exhibition this year. But the program for the conference looks great. And the exhibition will surely be impressive, as it always is. Also, this isn’t … Continue reading →

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Interview with Authorial Intentions

Posted on April 10, 2017 by bdlowe

I had a great time talking to Chris Benda about my book today in this interview. Chris really forced me to articulate some of the bigger issues my book is addressing. Give it a listen!

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Book Announcement

Posted on April 10, 2017 by bdlowe

I would like to take this chance to announce the publication of my new book. It is the first book in English to use Shōsōin documents to examine sutra copying in ancient Japan: Ritualized Writing: Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures … Continue reading →

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Sugimoto Kazuki to speak at Princeton conference

Posted on December 20, 2016 by bdlowe

A number of deadlines have prevented me from blogging about the 2016 Shōsōin exhibition, though I still do hope to get back to it. I will say that the Shōsōin documents conference was remarkably informative (a good summary, one far … Continue reading →

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2016 Shōsōin Exhibition

Posted on August 8, 2016 by bdlowe

I’m particularly excited to announce the next Shōsōin exhibition, particularly because it will be the first one I have attended since 2010, due to teaching obligations in previous years. http://www.narahaku.go.jp/exhibition/2016toku/shosoin/2016shosoin_index.html I’ll blog about it after I get back.

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