Manga

Question 1

Brahmin

Answer 1

• purest blood of Aryans

- priests

Question 2

Gautama Siddhartha

Answer 2

• inspired Buddhism

- known as Śākyamuni (i.e. the sage of the Śākya people) and as the Buddha (i.e. the enlightened one)

Question 3

Tezuka Osamu

Answer 3

• most influential and beloved of Japanese cartoonists
• created the anime called “Buddha”
• his work is sought at museums

Question 4

“Buddha” by Tezuka Osamu

Answer 4

• inspired by life of Gautama Siddhartha
• religious science fiction
• Tezuka’s Buddha is very human in his weakness and enlightenment. he includes additional characters and story lines to keep it interesting. it is still closely portrayed to tradition
• focuses on displaying real-life: love-hate relationships with no happy ending, meaningless deaths, etc
• addresses rationality of modern mind

Question 5

what were the challenges with Tezuka’s “Buddha”

Answer 5

mirrored images, romanticization of names, unjust translation of jokes/puns

Question 6

mirrored images

Answer 6

Japanese books are read from right to left. this means that in Spanish and English editions, reconstruction of frames, etc was necessary in order to maintain flow and be accessible (i.e. right-handed switched to left-handed). this was done well but is also concerning because in some religions, right-handed vs. left-handed holds significance

Question 7

romanticization of names

Answer 7

Spanish translation tries to accurately represent Indic spellings, while English translation focuses on providing a spelling that is easier to pronounce, rather than staying true to the Indic names

Question 8

unjust translation of jokes/puns

Answer 8

there are a lot of puns/jokes and references to modern political and entertainment figures in Tezuka’s “Buddha”. these are hard to translate accurately in a way that will make the same sense.

Question 9

what do they do with Tezuka’s Buddha exhibit at the Tokyo National museum?

Answer 9

they compare/contrast Tezuka’s “Buddha” manga with Buddhist statuary

Question 10

what does Matsumoito Nobuyuki hope to achieve by his exhibit?

Answer 10

• attract different crowds and introduce new things: get the usual audience interested in manga and Buddhism, get manga fans interested in Buddhist statuary, etc
• can allow us to learn more about manga and anime as forms of media by looking at how they have been portrayed in museuems

Question 11

why did the exhibitor display 3D images instead of 2D images?

Answer 11

hoped to expand the image individuals had of Buddhism

Question 12

genga

Answer 12

• hand-drawn, camera-ready originals

- manga is printed from these

Question 13

why did Matsumoito depict Genga instead of printed version?

Answer 13

• he believed they were more accurate displays of Tezuka’s original ideas
• Genga can be seen as a record of artist’s life

Question 14

when something is familiar, is it hard to view it as fine art?

Answer 14

it can be, but once this work has become popular elsewhere, individuals can get more appreciation for this art, even if it is familiar.

Question 15

when did manga’s popularity begin to rise?

Answer 15

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Question 16

approaches to studying religion

Answer 16

textual, anthropological, archaeological, art-historical

Question 17

emic

Answer 17

insider’s view of religion

Question 18

etic

Answer 18

outsider’s view of religion

Question 19

colophon

Answer 19

publisher’s emblem or imprint, usually on the title page of a book

Question 20

two types of inscriptions

Answer 20

identifier, donative

Question 21

why are inscriptions important?

Answer 21

• identifiers tell us about what scene is being depicted in artwork/structure
• donatives tell us about who donated a certain artwork/structure. this is important to know because nuns/munks renounce their wealth, so they should not have the financial means to donate these. we need to be able to track this to ensure things were as they are believed.
• we get a real sense of what is going on

Question 22

social order of Indian society (caste)

Answer 22

• twice-born, Āryas: Brahamins, Ksatriyas, Vaiśyas

- non-Āryas: śūdras

Question 23

ksatriyas

Answer 23

warriors, kings. part of the Āryas class

Question 24

vaiśyas

Answer 24

merchants/agriculture. part of the Āryas class

Question 25

śūdras

Answer 25

servants. part of the non-Āryas class

Question 26

stupa

Answer 26

buddhist relic site

Question 27

śarīra

Answer 27

refers to the beads found in ashes after a body is burned. this is usually an indication that the person who died was worthy and received enlightenment