Hell-bent for Heaven in Tateyama Mandara: Painting and Religious Practice at a Japanese Mountain

Hell-bent for Heaven in Tateyama mandara treats the history, religious practice, and visual culture that developed around the mountain Tateyama in Toyama prefecture. Caroline Hirasawa traces the formation of institutions to worship kami and Buddhist divinities in the area, examines how two towns in the foothills fiercely fought over religious rights, and demonstrates how this contributed to the creation of paintings called Tateyama mandara.