Gods of Japan, An A to Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism

[ranuel]

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml

Mark Schumacher has degrees in Japanese and Chinese studies and has lived in Japan since 1992. His focus is on Japanese Buddhist art and this site is the sister site to his online store. The entries are primarily his notes on the art and the stories behind it and under each heading you will find much repetition of the same information as he copies in things he has learned from new sources. However, the organization of the site with an alphabetical index in the sidebar allows the visitor to quickly find what she is looking for and the information is presented in a way that is understandable to the layman. It is presented in a dry textbook style that can cause a bit of eyelid drooping in longer entries but the huge number of illustrations keep it interesting.  Many of the pictures have been taken by Schumacher or are of things that he has personally viewed.

It's not rare for historians or archaeologists to differ on the interpretation of the known facts about something and I particularly like that when sources differ Schumacher will present both theories and the reasoning behind them. He is also open to input from his readers and updates the site regularly.
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Comments

[alterfano.livejournal.com]

thanks! this is helpful. though most of the "action" in my epic (for which i've actually bothered to do research) is in the Tokugawa and Meiji eras, the fundamental storyline is based on events that take place in the Heian era (prob spelled that wrong). So I AM trying to get a basic grounding in the classic Japanese basis as well.

will keep this at hand.

[ranuel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you find it useful. I'll see what else I have that may help and give those links priority.

[alterfano.livejournal.com]

thanks.