The Hakubi Project

9th

The following 13 researchers are working at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University.

:Global Type
:Tenure-track Type

Short Introduction

Situated at a key point of the ancient Silk Road trade network, the oasis towns around the Taklamakan Desert located in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China were the places where cultures from West and East met and merged into a creative new form. This also was the area which played a crucial role in the transmission of Buddhism from India to East Asia. My research focuses on the mural paintings decorating the Buddhist rock monasteries of the Kucha Kingdom, one of the major oasis kingdoms along the Northern Silk Road. A vast number of narrative representations illustrated in these mural paintings is the treasury of the first-hand information about the local Buddhist culture and the historical situation of the region, under which local monastic institutions were operated. By analyzing the information derived from these representations in the murals with reference to the latest research results in archeology, philology and historical studies, this study aims to reconstruct the actual situation of local Buddhist culture of Kucha and the surrounding area.

Introduction Research(PDF) 

Research activity status (external page)

Latest News

• Sep. 20, 2023

  The book review on the Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities)'s publication, Traces of the Sarvāstivādins in the Buddhist Monasteries of Kucha, was published on Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 108 by Prof. Nobuyoshi Yamabe (Waseda University).

• Jan. 11, 2023

  Assistant Professor Dr. Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave a webinar at the Dunhuang Foundation / Rice University's Department of Transnational Asian Studies.

• Jun. 27, 2022

  Associate Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave an online talk at Peking University.

• May. 11, 2022

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) published the Festschrift, Connecting the Art, Literature, and Religion of South and Central Asia: Studies in Honour of Monika Zin (New Delhi: DEV Publishers & Distributors), as one of the co-editors.

• Mar. 2, 2022

  A new book, Overlapping Cosmologies in Asia (eds. by Bill M. Mak and Eric Huntington), including a chapter written by Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) has been published.

• Feb. 1, 2022

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) published a co-authored book "Traces of the Sarvāstivādins in the Buddhist Monasteries of Kucha" (New Delhi: DEV Publisher, 2022).

• Feb. 1, 2022

  An interview article featuring Assis. Prof. Satomi Hiyama has been posted on the website "That's Kyodai".

• Dec. 23, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) published a paper on The Mikkyō Zuzō (The Journal of Buddhist Iconography).

• Dec. 17, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave a talk at the meeting "The Department of Eastern Languages at 60: Navigating the Currents of Learning" at Chulalongkon University.

• Dec. 17, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave a talk at the Symposium held at Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University.

• Oct. 6, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (​Institute for Research in Humanities) received the Kokka Encouragement Prize by Kokka-sha and Asahi Shimbun.

• Apr. 19, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) published an interview article in a newspaper (Kyoto Shimbun).

• Feb. 17, 2021

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) published a paper on Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift vol. 24.

• Dec. 15, 2020

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) will join in a talk event hosted by Goethe Institut Villa Kamogawa. (Dec. 18th)

• Oct. 20, 2020

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) published a paper.(Buddhist Arts)

• Sep. 30, 2020

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) published a paper.(NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin)

• Sep. 29, 2020

  Assistant Professor Satomi HIYAMA (Institute for Research in Humanities) published an article in a newspaper (Kyoto Shimbun).

• Apr. 11, 2019

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave a talk at Yale University.

• Apr. 11, 2019

  Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama (Institute for Research in Humanities) gave a talk at Ryukoku University.

• Apr. 11, 2019

  The international workshop had held, hosted by Assistant Professor Satomi Hiyama(Institute for Research in Humanities).

• Feb. 27, 2019

  Hakubi Seminar Announcement (161st meeting)