Mount Hiei the Sacred Kyoto Mountain of Buddhism (English Edition)

This book covers everything about Mount Hiei, the sacred mountain in Japan. It covers the history, architecture, Buddha statues, Buddhist philosophy, Buddhists'' cuisine, Gosyuin: Vermilion seal, and the travel guide. 140 pieces of full color photographs are placed in this book with a detailed sentence. There are so-called "three biggest sacred mountains" in Japan: Mount Hiei, Mount Koya, and Mount Osore. In those, Mount Hiei is located near by Kyoto, and it is the most important...
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This book covers everything about Mount Hiei, the sacred mountain in Japan. It covers the history, architecture, Buddha statues, Buddhist philosophy, Buddhists'' cuisine, Gosyuin: Vermilion seal, and the travel guide. 140 pieces of full color photographs are placed in this book with a detailed sentence. There are so-called "three biggest sacred mountains" in Japan: Mount Hiei, Mount Koya, and Mount Osore. In those, Mount Hiei is located near by Kyoto, and it is the most important mountain culturally and historically.　 People all over the world know about Mount Fuji, but Mount Hiei of Japan is less famous. Although Mount Fuji is the highest altitude mountain in Japan, or Mount Hiei is less than one-fourth of the altitude of Mount Fuji, Mount Hiei is one of the most important mountain culturally in Japan. Many people have asked me why Mount Hiei is so important. Because, Mount Hiei had been kind of a university of the ancient Japan. Many famous scholars studied there and graduated from Mount Hiei. Buddhism entered Japan in the 6th century (525) CE. In the Nara Period, the time of the capital city of Nara in Japan, Buddhism in Nara looked too pedantic. However, in the 8th century (794) CE, the capital city changed from Nara to Kyoto. Afterwards, the Heian Period started and the new and powerful Esoteric Buddhism began. Emperor Kanmu sponsored the new Buddhism, which was spread by the priest Saicho (also known as Dengyo Daishi), who established Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei (Hiei-zan) near Kyoto. Saicho was the founder of the Tendai-shu School. Later, Hiei-zan had been called the "mother mountain" of Japanese Buddhism because so many founders of the famous Schools of Japanese Buddhism graduated from Hiei-zan. That is why some people said Hiei-zan was the very old university, or the highest educational institution in ancient Japan. CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Todo area 2 Saito area 3 Yokawa area 4 Mudoji-dani area 5 Shojin-ryori: Buddhists'' cuisine 6 Goshuin: Vermilion seal 7 Access to Mount Hiei Maps Chronological Table References About the Author *** About the Author Masakazu Ishikawa is a journalist. He was a television reporter and video-journalist at the Japan Broadcasting Corporation and covered the war in Afghanistan, the civil war in Kashmir, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and the Gulf War. He also lived in Kyoto for five years as a journalist, covering culture, history, festivals, the Kimono industry, the temples, and the shrines of Kyoto. Ishikawa holds an MBA from Waseda University. He was placed on the dean''s list and he later left the doctoral program at Waseda University.

　本書は、天台宗務庁の全面協力により、5年間の現場ロケを経て撮影取材した比叡山延暦寺の英語版ガイドブックです。比叡山の四つのエリアに点在する数多くの諸堂（外観と内観）を全てカラー写真でほぼ網羅しています。
　本書の構成は、以下の通りです。
第1章： Todo area　東塔エリアの諸堂
第2章： Saito area　西塔エリアの諸堂
第3章： Yokawa area　横川エリアの諸堂
第4章： Mudoji-dani area　無動寺谷エリアの諸堂
第5章： Shojin-ryori, Buddhists'' cuisine　比叡山の精進料理
第6章： Goshuin, Vermilion seal　諸堂の御朱印とその見方
第7章： Access to Mount Hiei：比叡山へのアクセス、
Map：地図、
Chronological Table：年表、
References：参照文献。

　本書は外国人向けに英語で比叡山延暦寺を紹介する本ですので、本書には日本語は一切載っていません。写真家でもある著者はノンネイティブの日本人であるため、著者が記した英語は厳密なネイティブチェックを何度も繰り返し実施していますが、本件でお世話になったネイティブチェッカーは、Queen''s Englishの文法にきわめて厳密なインド人学者であったため、本書の英語は、かなり、古風なオックスフォード英語・ケンブリッジ英語になっています。この件については、ニューヨークに住んでいたことがある著者はこれを現代的な米語文法に直すべきかどうかについて当初迷いましたが、古風なオックスフォード英語・ケンブリッジ英語は、古風な比叡山を記すにはこれ以上最適な文法は無いかもしれないと思いなおして、これもありがたき御縁であろうと実感して最初から最後までこの古風な大英帝国文法で通しています。ネイティブチェックは至難をきわめました。なぜならば、ひとつひとつの仏教用語や古風な日本語単語の意味をまずはネイティブチェッカーにかみくだいて説明しなければならなかったからです。その意味ではこれほど苦しい作業もなかったのですが、反面、これほど楽しい執筆もなかったかもしれないと、今振り返って思えます。 　なお、比叡山延暦寺諸堂の撮影取材を私に御許可下さった天台宗務庁の木ノ下寂俊 元宗務総長猊下と、各寺院塔堂内の取材に同行して頂き数々の質疑に応じてくださった礒村良定氏と武 円超氏には、心底よりの深謝を申し上げる次第です。　石川雅一