Postcard The Great Buddha of Kamakura

Postcard The Great Buddha of Kamakura

©

A postcard of the Buddha at Kamakura. This small city not far from Tokyo, was the most important military power centre in Japan from the end of the 12th until the first decades of the 14th century. During this period, simultaneously with the emergence of the samurai, new schools of Buddhism were established, which are still among the most influential in Japan today.

Karlin’s “quiet fishing village” was very charming, as she wrote in her travelogue Lonely Journey. She was particularly taken with the huge bronze statue of the seated Buddha, dating from 1252, which is still an extremely popular tourist attraction. On the back, she wrote in German that there is also a ginkgo in the photo and a teahouse in the background, “9. Seitenansicht des Buddha zu Kamakura. Ginko, im Hintergrund, Teehaus”. (CSB, MV)

Material description: paper
Manufacturing technique: black-and-white print
Inscription: (國寳)鎌倉の大佛 東京灣要塞司令部検閲済 / Daibutsu of Kamakura
No. of parts: 1
Current owner: Celje Regional Museum
Date of the last acquisition: 1957–1960
Last acquisition method: donation
Previous owners and periods of ownership: Alma M. Karlin, Thea Schreiber Gammelin, Celje Regional Museum
Object condition, handling and damage: well preserved
Press releases: Catalogue of the exhibition "Azija me je povsem uročila"

Do you have a comment or additional information about the subject?

Other objects in this collection

VAZ is funded by

Project partners

ZRC SAU

Participating institutions