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JAPAN YEAR IN INDIA LECTURE SERIES ON JAPAN-INDIA RELATIONS |
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The Sanskrit language was introduced into Japan in two ways: in the form of Sanskrit studies as such, as well as by means of constituting a basis for creation of the Japanese alphabet. Sanskrit originally had no script, as on orally communicated language, but came to use the Brahmi script in BC 3rd century, and then the Siddham script in AD 3rd century. After the 10th century, the current Devanagari script was developed for Sanskrit. Thus, when Japanese studied Sanskrit from the 8th to 9th centuries, Sanskrit was synonymous with Siddham. When Sanskrit came to China, the Chinese people described Sanskrit sounds through Chinese characters with a similar pronunciation. Then, the Japanese digested Sanskrit through simplified Chinese characters, which re-developed into the Japanese alphabet, Kana.
Prof. Namai was born in 1947 at Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. He studied at Koyasan University (Dept. of Buddhist Studies) from 1966 to 1970, and at Kyoto University (Dept. of Letters) from 1970 to 1977. He obtained his D.Litt. from Hiroshima University in 1994, and has also studied Indology for two years at Ahmedabad. He has taught at the Koyasan University since 1977, and held many senior positions including the President of the University. In his lecture, Prof. Namai will talk about how Sanskrit came to Japan and the influence of Sanskrit in Japanese language, Kana and Siddham Study. |
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