ABSTRACT
It is well known that, in the time spanning the almost two hundred years since its discovery in 1819, a considerable number of studies have been done on the Ajanta caves by scholars in India and abroad. This includes notable achievements of scholars from Japan. In this chapter, I will briefly trace this historical relationship of the Japanese with Ajanta since the first decade of the 20th century, focusing on the general survey of the Otani expedition, well known as an exploratory party to Buddhist sites in Central Asia, as well as several attempts to copy the Ajanta paintings by Japanese artists. From the Meiji period through the Taisho, India was again recognised as the birthplace of Buddhism for the Japanese, especially among Buddhist monks and scholars of Buddhist Studies. Japanese artists of the day themselves were influenced by the thoughts of Kakuzō Okakura (1863–1913), who showed great reverence for Indian art, as well as the new subject of the Asian aesthetic sense. The resulting encounters between the Japanese and Ajanta was nothing less than a direct and vibrant cultural exchange, after a lapse of almost two millennia, following the excavation of the early caves. Let us review this historical relationship to explore how the Japanese considered Ajanta through their attempts at its study.
