Description: A monumental and pioneering study on women and Buddhism.
Review Quotes: "This volume brings together genuinely original scholarship that has emerged from the pioneering efforts of Japanese and Western scholars and two groups: the Research Group on Women and Buddhism in Japan, organized by Professors Nishiguchi Junko and Ôsumi Kazuo, and the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies, directed by Professor Barbara Ruch. These studies address long-neglected questions about the roles of women in Japanese Buddhism and represent the welcomed first steps toward disclosing 'the other half of Buddhist history.' Much remains to be done, but the ground has now been broken and a strong foundation laid by the interdisciplinary studies presented in this important volume. Barbara Ruch is to be commended for her vision and her devotion to this project."--Laurel Rasplica Rodd, University of Colorado, Boulder