. the role of esoteric buddhism 1033
the result of decades of research and publications on historical docu-
ments related to Kūkai and Kōyasan. Using the tools of the historical
method, Takeuchi spent a good part of his life editing and analyzing
primary sources related to Kūkai. However, Takeuchi did not limit
his research to scriptorium studies but decided to accompany other
Shingon priests to the different sites where Kūkai had lived, including
sites in China. His travels included walking from the Chinese coast
where Kūkai had landed more than a thousand years ago through
the Chinese countryside, as far as the former imperial capital of Xi’an
(Chang’an) where the great master had lived, studied, and received
ordination.
Takeuchi’s last publications deal with the most controversial results
of his studies. Kōbō Daishi Kūkai no Kenkyū focuses on four topics:
the first part of the book is dedicated to Kūkai’s family and place of
birth; the second part clarifies the reasons Kūkai went to China as an
exchange student; and the third part sheds new light on the relation-
ship between Kūkai and Saichō. Finally, the fourth part of the book
offers a better understanding of the foundation of Mt. Kōya. Accord-
ing to Takeuchi, Kūkai was born and educated in the rich and power-
ful household of the Abé family to which his mother belonged. Kūkai
was thus brought up close to the capital, belonging to one of the most
respected clans at the time, and received the best possible education.
Takeuchi traces Kūkai’s determination to go to China to a religious
experience he had at the age of twenty, when he recited the mantra
invoking Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha (Kokūzō Bosatsu )
during an intense period of practice. In China, Kūkai encountered the
teachings of Master Huiguo (Keika ) and realized that he had
found an answer to his quest. He brought back to Japan the teachings of
Huiguo, and with it a new approach to Mahāyāna Buddhism. Regard-
ing the relationship between Kūkai and Saichō, Takeuchi underlines
the fact that they were close friends and greatly admired one another.
However, they could not agree on questions related to the teachings
and their transmission. Finally, for Takeuchi the foundation of a garan
on Mt. Kōya is Kūkai’s first and most significant act in the promotion
of his new Buddhist teachings.
The studies above mainly come from the Shingon traditions of
esoteric Buddhism and are representative of a new trend in esoteric
studies. The study of the esoteric plane of the Tendai tradition, also
called Taimitsu , reveals that at present Tendai studies on eso-
tericism remain confined to circles of specialists. Probably one of the