The Japanese exploration of Tibet:
From the Meiji period to the Taisho period, four of the most prominent Buddhologists: Ekai Kawaguchi, Tokan Tada, Bunkyo Aoki and Enga Teramoto, who entered Tibet in the early 20thCentury, a period when travel to that part of the world was extremely Challenging.
Ekai Kawaguchi (河口慧海, Kawaguchi Ekai) (26/02/1866 – 24/02/1945), a Japanese Buddhist monk, famed for his four journeys to Nepal and two to Tibet (From 1899 – 1915), being the first recorded Japanese citizen to travel in either country.
left Japan for India in June, 1897, without a guide or map, simply buying his way onto a cargo boat. He had a smattering of English but did not know a word of Hindi or Tibetan. Also, he had no money, having refused the donations of his friends.
After arriving in India with very little money, he somehow entered the good graces of Sarat Chandra Das, an Indian British agent and Tibetan scholar, and was given passage to northern India.
Kawaguchi stayed in Darjeeling for several months living with a Tibetan family by Das’ arrangement. He became fluent in the Tibetan language.
Crossing over the Himalayas on an unpatrolled dirt road with an untrustworthy guide. He had the good fortune to befriend every wanderer he met in the countryside, including monks, shepherds, and even bandits on the Tibetan plateau, took almost four years to reach Lhasa.
Gained a reputation as an excellent doctor which led to him having an audience with the 13th DalaiLama, Thubten Gyatso. He spent some time living in Sera Monastery.
Here’s the Tibetan Government passport issued to Nômi Kan 能海寛 (1869-1903) and Kawaguchi Ekai 河口慧海 (1866-1945) for their return to Tibet in the future. dated: 8th May, Water-Tiger year (1902)
Nômi Kan’s name has not remained in history since we lose track of him in the Eastern fringes of the country, plagued with bandits. Kawaguchi Ekai had better luck and the fascinating accounts he drew out of his 3 year-long journey in Tibet.
A year later the Younghusband expedition in December 1903, after having massacred the small Tibetan army over three decisive battles, where machineguns fought against ancient swords, 1,000 Tibetan soldiers died, a third of their troops, while the British casualties were slim.
The British entered Lhasa in 1904, demanding commercial agreements and pushing the DalaiLama into exile. This was the heavy-handed manners Manchus were soon to imitate in 1909.
When Kawaguchi finally returned to Japan he caused a sensation and an instant surge of interest in distant Tibet. He visited Lumbini with other Japanese pilgrims in 1912, he then returned to Tibet a final time in 1913.
In Photo: A statue of Ekai Kawaguchi in Osaka, Japan.
He brought back to Japan a large collection of Tibetan scriptures, but had a lengthy and public dispute with the other pilgrims about who the Dalai Lama had intended to give them to.
In 1912, apart from the Otani expedition known for its investigation of the Silk Road, there are two scholar monks who went to Tibet to study Tibetan Buddhism.
Bunkyo Aoki (1886-1956, Shiga Prefecture) and Tokan Tada (1896-1967, Akita Prefecture). Bunkyo Aoki trained in Tibet for three years and Tokan Tada for ten years.
The two brought back (to Japan) valuable materials, Buddhist paintings, and Buddha statues from Tibet “Illustrated Biography of Shakyamuni” (25 pages), which was given to Tokan Tada by the 13th Dalai Lama.
There are works related to the two, such as the “Lhasa bird’s-eye view” brought by Bunkyo Aoki and photographs of the site at the time.
