Events
4th Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop (International Symposium)
Toyo University
Details to be announced
We will hold an international symposium focusing on the Buddhist Art of Kucha and Turfan. The latest research findings by scholars from Japan and abroad will be presented. Details regarding participation will be announced on this website at a later date.
5th Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop
Toyo University
Details to be announced
The 5th research meeting will focus on Dunhuang studies. Further details will be announced on this website at a later date.
3rd Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop Meeting (International Conference)
Toyo Bunko Auditorium (2F) and Online
11:00-16:30
The third meeting of the Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop, "Buddhist Art and Cultural Heritage in Nepal and the Tarim Basin," concluded successfully.
In addition to three presenters offering perspectives from various angles, the round table—joined by a commentator—sparked an active and engaging exchange of ideas.
Furthermore, valuable comments from experts in Tibetan philology and researchers from the Dunhuang Foundation enriched the session and added further depth to the event.
The schedules for the fourth and fifth meetings are currently being arranged. We would be most grateful for your continued interest and support for our workshop series.
Photos from the 3rd Meeting
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2nd Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop
Tsukuba University Myogadani Campus
13:00-17:50
We plan to have 7 research presentations and survey reports by a total of 9 presenters, covering a wide range of regions including Gandhara, Western Regions, Southeast Asia, and Nara, as well as all fields of archaeology, art, literature, and conservation science.
Photos from the 2nd Meeting
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1st Central Asian Buddhist Culture Research Group Meeting
Tsukuba University Tokyo Campus, Room 121
13:30-17:30
We held our first research meeting. Thanks to the substantial reports from the presenters and everyone's active participation, it was a very fulfilling meeting. There was also active exchange at the social gathering.
Photos from the 1st Meeting
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Organizers
Yoko Taniguchi, Ph.D. (Literature)
Yoko Taniguchi, Ph.D. (Letters)
Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba
◆Research Themes◆
Archaeological Science, Conservation Science, Research on Wall Painting Techniques and Constituent materials
I am interested in technologies of mankind, especially in the materials and techniques of various manmade products using both scientific and historical analytical methods.In recent years, I have been particularly investigating the painting materials and techniques of polychromed objects including wall paintings and sculptures in Central Asian countries.
◆研究業績◆
・13歳からの考古学シリーズ『なんで人は青を作ったの？青色の歴史を探る旅』（2025年）
・中央アジアの壁画の彩色技法と材料について ─バーミヤーン遺跡の仏教壁画を中心に：周辺地域・構造からの視点─（2025年）
・文化財保存修復学会業績賞（2021年）
・読売国際協力賞（2020年）
・アフガニスタン出土仏頭・デッサン展覧会：（メタバースによるバーチャルミュージアムの試み）
・『バーミヤーン壁画の材質と技術』
・シリア、アイン・ダーラ遺跡の保護プロジェクト（文化庁）
・大エジプト博物館保存修復センター支援事業（JICA）
And many others (https://trios.tsukuba.ac.jp/researcher/0000000075)
Satomi Hiyama, Ph.D. (Art History)
Satomi Hiyama, Ph.D. (Art History)
Assistant Professor, Toyo University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Eastern Philosophy and Culture
External Researcher, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig "Wissenschaftliche Bearbeitung der buddhistischen Höhlenmalereien in der Kuča-Region der nördlichen Seidenstraße"
Visiting Researcher, Ryukoku Universitym Research Center for World Buddhist Cultures
◆Research Subjects◆
Buddhist Iconography, Central Asian Buddhist Art History, Cave temples and their wall paintingss in Kucha and Dunhuang in the 5th to 7th centuries.
My research focuses on the iconography of the wall paintings of the Buddhist cave temples along the Silk Road. I try to reconstruct various aspects of Buddhist culture in the so-called Western Regions (above all on Kucha and Dunhuang) during the 5th to 7th centuries through the iconographical analysis of the wall paintings, with references on the research results of various neighboring fields, such as the Archaeology, Buddhist Studies, History, and Conservation Science.
I worked as a researcher at the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin from 2010 to 2016, and submitted my PhD dissertation on the mural fragments of Kizil Cave 207 (Malerhöhle) mainly housed in the Berlin collection to the Freie Universität Berlin in 2014.
I had various opportunities to work in an interdisciplinary research environment both in Japan and abroad, and have experienced the fascination and advantages of an active interaction and exchanges among researchers with various disciplines and perspectives as their background. I hope that this research group is able to provide a open platform which can foster researchers with interests on various topic of the Silk Road Buddhist Studies, and facilitate their networking and active interaction.
◆出版物（代表的なもの）◆
・Habata, Hiromi & Hiyama, Satomi (eds.), Variety of Jātaka and Avadāna Transmission: Proceedings of the International Symposium held on the 27th and 28th of November 2023 at the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies. New Delhi: DEV Publisher, 2025.
・Vignato, Giuseppe & Hiyama, Satomi, with Appendices by Kieffer-Pülz, Petra & Taniguchi, Yoko, 2022, Traces of the Sarvāstivādins in the Buddhist Monasteries of Kucha. New Delhi: DEV Publishers & Distributors, Leipzig Kucha Studies 3.
・魏正中・桧山智美『龟兹早期寺院中的说一切有部遗迹探真』上海古籍出版社、2024年.
・Satomi Hiyama, "Overlapping Heavens in the Wall Paintings of Mogao Cave 285 at Dunhuang: An Art-Historical Study of the Syncretistic Images on Its West Wall and Ceiling," in Eric Huntington & Bill M. Mak (eds.), Overlapping Cosmologies in Asia: Transcultural and Interdisciplinary Approaches, Leiden: Brill, 2022, pp. 257-280.
And many others (See Researchmap)
Secretariat
Yamane Momoka (PhD student at the University of Tsukuba)
- 「中央アジアにおける仏教塑像の製作」(First workshop)
- 「人文学における光学調査の方法と活用」(Second workshop)
Sugiyama Hyosuke（Second year MA student at International College of Post-graduate Buddhist Studies）
- 「月と大地の菩提薩埵――『月蔵経』と『十輪経』の近縁性について」(First workshop)
- "The Rock-Cut Caves of Kasugayama: A Study Based on Literature and Infrared Imaging Documents" (Co-presentation at the second workshop)
Kanata Kawasaki（First year MA student at International College of Post-graduate Buddhist Studies）
- "Report on the Visit to Gāndhāra — Participation in the 2025 Woodenfish-Waksaw Seminar on Gandhara Buddhism" (First workshop)
- "The Rock-Cut Caves of Kasugayama: A Study Based on Literature and Infrared Imaging Documents" (Co-presentation at the second workshop)
※ The above achievements are presentations at this research group
Contact
For inquiries about the activities of the Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop, or if you wish to join in our mailing list (where you can receive announcement of the upcoming events in Japanese) , please contact us at the email address below.
The Silk Road Buddhist Studies Workshop
silkroad.buddhism[at]gmail.com
When contacting us, please replace [at] with @