The Japan Society and the Japan Research Centre SOAS are pleased to invite to a special lecture by Professor Timon Screech, New Light on Nikkō: The Cult of Ieyasu in International Context to celebrate Circle of Japanese Art London’s 10th Anniversary.

This talk is part of a wide-ranging book-length study of the Tōshōgū network. The lecture considers the process and reason for the deification of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), with the ritual meanings and architectural style of the many shrine-temples erected across Japan. In this lecture, Professor Screech will focus on one feature, namely the famous, though little-understood, Dutch lanterns standing before the gateway to the main shrine-temple precinct at Nikkō.

Professor Timon Screech received a BA in Oriental Studies at Oxford University and completed his PhD in History of Art at Harvard University in 1991. He taught History of Japanese Art at SOAS from1991 to 2021. He has published widely on many aspects of Edo Art and Culture, including The Shogun’s Painted Culture (2000), The Lens Within the Heart (2002), Sex and the Floating World (2009, Second Edition), Obtaining Images (2012), Tokyo before Tokyo (2020), and The Shogun’s Silver Telescope (2020). He is currently Professor in Research Division of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (Nichibunken).

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

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