ABSTRACT
T h e official date for the introduction of Buddhism into Japan from Korea is a .d . 552, but it is probable that the Court were not wholly ignorant of it at that time, for it is recorded that in the reign of the Emperor Ojin a learned man called Wang-In instructed the Heir Apparent in Chinese writing and literature.1 But Wang-In, if Chinese, came from Korea and not direct. Buddhism had reached the Koreans in a .d . 372 and they were in close communication with China, for they had relations by land with the northern kingdoms and by sea with the Yang-tse valley. On the other side they were in touch with Japan and sent thither at various times weavers, masons, carpenters, Chinese scholars, physicians, diviners, and persons skilled in the mysteries of the calendar. But though Korea was the intermediary it is clear that it was Chinese culture which the Japanese wished to acquire.
