著者

高山 龍三 Ryuzo TAKAYAMA 京都文教大学人間学部 KYOTO BUNKYO UNIVERSITY Department of Human Studies

雑誌

人間・文化・心 : 京都文教大学人間学部研究報告 = Reports from the Faculty of Human Studies, Kyoto Bunkyo University

巻号頁・発行日

no.5, pp.119-129, 2003-03-25

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UNKThe year 2002 completes a century since the first Nepali students came to Japan in 1902. To commemorate this anniversary, the Embassy of Japan, Japan University Students' Association, Nepal (JUSAN) jointly organized some events. The first one was a symposium on 'A Century of Nepali Students in Japan and Perspective for the 21st Century'. I was requested to present a paper to the symposium. The symposium was held on 7 April at the Embassy hall in Kathmandu. The program had two sessions. In the first session, Mr.Harendra Barua presented a paper entitled Historical Overview: Pioneer Nepali Students in Japan, A Century Ago. I presented a paper on Kawaguchi Ekai and the Beginning of Cultural Exchange Between Japan and Nepal In the second session, the eminent economist and former Ambassador to Japan Dr.Badri P.Shrestha presented a paper on Contribution of Japan Trained Nepali to Our Development. The symposium was a success, with about 100 scholars and participants. The newspaper reported on the symposium on the next day. I presented the catalogue with the number of packages and books which I checked and arranged in 1999, as a record of the Tripitaka which Kawaguchi Ekai presented to Maharaja Chandra Shamsher in 1905, to the National Archives on 9 April. On 19 April, a ceremony for the presentation of the Imanishi Memorial Fellowship Award was held with the participation of the Japanese Ambassador, Honorable Minister for Physical Planning and Works, JUSAN members and myself. I read the address for the Sakai Lions Club. An abstract of my paper is as follows. After Meiji Restoration many young Japanese Buddhist monks were alarmed at the decline of Buddhism in Japan, and some of them wished to enter Nepal or Tibet in order to acquire original Buddhist sutras. Kawaguchi Ekai was the first Japanese to enter Nepal on 26 January, 1899. Then on 4 July, 1900 he entered Tibet by crossing a pass in the Himalayas. Later he stayed in Nepal: in 1903,1905,1912,1913. In total, two and a half years. According to his famous book. Three Years in Tibet, the purpose of his travel was 128 to collect original Sanskrit Buddhist sutras of Buddhism and their Tibetan translations. Shimizu Mokuji, Omiya Kojun and Oda Tokuno went to India for the purpose of entering Nepal, only Shimizu entered Nepal, at Tarai. And Shimizu wished to collect many materials in Nepal in order to inform Japanese. While Kawaguchi was in Nepal from February to March in 1903, Shimaji Daito, a member of the expedition lead by Otani Kozui, was doing archaeological research on the Buddha in Tarai. From February to March, 1903, Shimizu, Honda Eryu, and Inoue Koen, the members of the expedition lead by Otani Kozui, entered Tarai, went to Lunmindi (Lumbini), where they did archaeological research on Buddhist artifacts. Kawaguchi came back to Japan in May 1903. Two months after his return he met two Nepalese students, Jang Narshing Rana and one other, who had already been studying for one year in Japan. Buddha Vajura, the chief priest of Bouddhanath, sent a letter to Kawaguchi on the Russo-Japanese War. Kawaguchi guessed that it was actually the Maharaja's question to him. Then Kawaguchi carried one set of the Tripitaka printed in Obakusan Manpukuji, and presented it to the Maharaja in 1905. Kawaguchi stayed in Bouddhanath, and was requested by the Maharaja to present a long English letter titled 'The Memorial, Peace and Glory'(57 pages.). It was published in the journals Nepali (1992) and Himal (1993). Kawaguchi's detailed proposal on the modernization of Nepal was in it. The English letter and its translation were published in Kawagmhi Ekai Chosaku Shu (Complete Works of Kawaguchi Ekai). Vol. 15, 2001, which I edited. Sakaki Ryosaburo of Kyoto Imperial University might have collected the Sanskrit sutras of Buddhism in 1910, but the details are not clear. Aoki Bunkyo passed Ham and Urunzon in eastern Nepal, and entered Tibet by the order of Otani Kozui in September 1912. Professor Takakusu Junjiro of Tokyo Imperial University, Masuda Jiryo and Tani Dogen entered Nepal without visas under Kawaguchi's guidance, and researched sites of Buddhist ruins. Soon after this research, Takakusu, Kawaguchi and Hasebe Ryutai entered Nepal, and collected Sanskrit Buddhist sutras in January and February 1913. Takakusu had an audience with the Maharaja, and Takakusu was asked his opinion. The number of the Sanskrit manuscripts collected by Kawaguchi and Takakusu in Tokyo University was 566. Among them, 390 manuscripts were collected by Kawaguchi. These Catalogue were made by Professor Matsunami Seiren in 1965. The main objective of my visit to Nepal in 1998 was to look at these sutras and establish whether or not they were the real ones that Kawaguchi presented to the Maharaja. I visited the National Archives, Department of Archaeology with Professor Abhi Sbedi, on 4 September, 1998. The Tripitaka in the National Archives was the exact Japanese edition hand-printed in Obakusan Manpukuji. The total number of the packages was exactly 275. I was very delighted to find the complete Tripitaka in the National Archives. The next problem was that of the authentication of the actual dedication of theTripitaka to Maharaja Chandra Shamsher. I confirmed that the front and the last pages of each book bore the seal or stamp signet of Chandra Shamsher Rana. The date was recorded as 1970 B.S., or 1913 A.D. After making some proposals in my report, I concluded with the following words:"The sutras are the symbols of a Nepal-Japan relationship that started 93 years ago." I would like to do further research based on my proposals. I visited the National Archives with Professor Abhi Sbedi on 30 August, 1999 again. After checking all packages and all books, we have found the Tripitaka of the National Archives in a completely preserved state. We, the Japanese, thank the Bir Library and the National Archives for preserving it for 94 years. The total number of the packages was 275, and the total number of the books was 2100. I am sorry to say that two packages were badly eaten by worms. Also, I was sorry to have found a small misarrangement and missing pages, from the stages of book binding back in Japan. Why had Kawaguchi brought such voluminous sutras from Japan? Though he surely wished to present the Tripitaka according to his agreememt with the Maharaja, there is no doubt that he wanted to return the Tripitaka made by the Japanese to the country of the Buddha's birth, and to complete a great circle of Buddhism: India-Silkroad-China-Japan-India, Nepal.

著者

[川喜田二郎著] 川喜田喜美子 高山龍三編著

出版者

ミネルヴァ書房

巻号頁・発行日

2010