Buddhas in the Making: Materiality, Ritual, and the Relational Ontology of Japanese Buddhist IconsMesner, Aljaž (Avtor) Kravanja, Boštjan (Mentor) Bértolo, José Luís Magusteiro (Komentor) JapanBuddhismmaterialityritualrelational ontologyBased on five months of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across Japan, the author explores Japanese Buddhist icons as ontological entities whose presence emerges through their material, ritual, and spatial relationships. The research material, gathered through visits to Buddhist temples, participant observation, and interviews, is analysed using anthropological theories of relationality, materiality, and object agency. The thesis focuses primarily on Buddhist statues and follows a four-part structure that examines how their presence is created, sustained, engaged with, and subsequently transformed. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including carving, consecration ceremonies, temple architecture, devotional practices, initiation rituals, conservation, museology, and reproduction. Through examples from different locales across Japan, the author shows that the presence of a Buddhist icon emerges through different social, spatial, and ritual contexts, rather than having a single, fixed ontological status.20262026-09-20 07:21:28Magistrsko delo/naloga188300VisID: 631287sl