Transmitting Robes, Linking Minds: The World of Buddhist Kasaya

Kasaya, or priest's robes, have played an important role in Buddhist history as well as textile culture in Japan. Kasaya came to be seen as a certification of dharma transmission in the Zen sect, and proof of legitimate succession. For disciples, the entire personality of his teacher became the object of devotion in the search for enlightenment, with the sacred robes a special focus. More generally in Japan up to the Edo period, textiles were valued as money and used until they were in tatters, being recycled from garments into rags. Kasaya became irreplaceable treasures of the highest value, handed down along with the name of their owner. This catalog accompanied an exhibition at Kyoto National Museum in 2010 which displayed kasaya from 700 years from the Nara period (710-794) through the Muromachi (1392-1573). Essays discuss the origins of kasaya as religious garments and their development within the context of textile history, including a detailed analysis of weave structures and patterns.