Abigail MacBain

Lecturer in Premodern Japanese Studies

Biography

Background

Note: I will be on sabbatical for the second semester of the 2025-2026 academic year. From January onward, Helen Parker will be the cohort lead for Year 4 Japanese and Japanese-linguistics students. Dr Parker will also be the coordinator for the Asian Studies Seminar Series during this time. 

Abigail MacBain is a scholar of premodern Japanese history and religion whose work focuses on early pre-modern transregional exchange and Buddhist transmission throughout East Asia. Her current research engages with continental musical in early Japan and connections between Buddhism and musical entertainment. 

Prior to joining the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh in autumn 2022, Abigail was a Postdoctoral Research Scholar and lecturer at Columbia University, where she also completed her PhD in the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures.  Her dissertation, "Precepts and Performances: Overseas Monks and the Emergence of Cosmopolitan Japan," examined the circumstances behind the relocations of several Buddhist monks from various parts of the Asian mainland to Japan in the mid-eighth century, and their subsequent engagement with monastic oversight, ordinations, and the Great Buddha's Eye-Opening Ceremony at Tōdaiji Temple in 752. 

Abigail’s research has earned her research, language, and writing grants from the Fulbright Program, the Blakemore Foundation, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Program, the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. She has presented on her research at the McGill University, Tōdaiji Temple, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), the University of Bristol, Princeton University, Columbia University, Doshisha Daigaku, Bukkyō Daigaku, and annual conferences for the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and American Academy of Religion (AAR).

CV

PDF icon 139918.pdf

Qualifications

Education:

  • PhD - Columbia University, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures
  • MA - McMaster University, Department of Religious Studies
  • BA - St. Lawrence University, Departments of Religious Studies and History-Asian Studies

Work:

  • 2021-2022 - Columbia University; Postdoctoral Research Scholar, lecturer
  • 2018-2019 - Kyoto University; Visiting Researcher, Fulbright Graduate Research Fellow
  • 2009-2013 - Consulate General of Japan in Miami; JET Programme Coordinator and  Coordinator for Educational & Cultural Affairs 
  • 2004-2006 - JET Programme; Assistant Language Teacher, Aomori Prefecture

Responsibilities & affiliations

Editorial Board:

  • Japan Forum - Associate Editor

Steering Committee:

  • PMJS 
  • Edinburgh Centre for Buddhist Studies

Membership:

  • Association for Asian Studies (AAS) 
  • American Academy of Religion (AAR)
  • UK Association for Buddhist Studies (UKABS)
  • Society for the Study of Japanese Religions (SSJR) 
  • British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS)
  • European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS)

Undergraduate teaching

Cohort Lead:

  • Fourth-year Japanese and Japanese-linguistics students

Pre-honours:

  • Pre-modern East Asian History
  • Society & Culture in Pre-modern East Asia

Honours:

  • Japanese 4 Dissertation 
  • Buddhism and the State in Early East Asia (not offered in the 2025-2026 year)

Postgraduate teaching

  • Doing Research on East Asia: Key Concepts, Approaches and Issues (East Asian Studies MSc students only)
  • Envisioning Buddhist Studies: Methods and Themes (Buddhist Studies MSc students only)
  • Buddhism and the State in Early East Asia (not offered in the 2025-2026 year)
  • Classical Japanese (informal reading group; contact for more information)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I am open to working with students whose research focuses on pre-1600 Japan, especially with projects focused on knowledge and religious exchange connecting pre-modern Japan to the Asian continent. Prospective students must have advanced modern Japanese reading capabilities (with dictionaries is fine), and ideally have training in Classical (kobun) and/or Sino-Japanese (kobun) reading.

Prospective students are encouraged to review LLC funding deadlines (https://llc.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees-and-funding/funding) and external fellowships.  Please send me a CV and brief project proposal prior to applying. 

Current PhD students supervised

Co-Supervisor:

  • Nick Cartwright (PhD, History) - Comparative research on the hagiographies of Gyōki (Japan) and St Cuthbert (England) 

Secondary Supervisor:

  • Sara Atwood (PhD, Art History) – Women’s experiences on Mt. Kōya in Edo period Japan
  • Arden Taylor (PhD, Asian Studies) – Masculinity in Zeami's Noh plays

Research summary

 Abigail's research focuses on religious transmission and its role in transregional communication, cultural development, and global awareness at the early Japanese court. In particular, she is interested in the circulation of Buddhist texts, ritual implements, sacred images, and musical entertainment. 

Current research interests

-Japanese overseas relations -Buddhist transmission -Silk Road studies -Religions interactions and exchanges -Shōsōin studies -Transmission of musical entertainments

Past research interests

-Mountain-based religious movements -Honji-suijaku; Shinto-Buddhist syncretic practice -Monastic precepts (vinaya)

Conference details

Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Vancouver; Mar. 2026

Panel: Japan Beyond the Sinosphere, 250-1250

  • “A Japanese Cosmopolis: Gigaku Masked Drama and the Decentering of Tang China in Early Japan”

Columbia University, Tōdaiji Temple, Nara JP; Nov. 2025 

Symposium: Sacred Music & Buddhist Ritual at Tōdaiji 「東大寺における音楽と儀礼」

  • “Dancers and Dynamics: Foreign Music and Dance at the Tōdaiji Eye-Opening” 「東大寺大仏開眼供養における渡来の音楽と舞踊」

McGill University, Montreal QB CA ;  Oct. 2025

Sounds and Colours of Japanese Rites

  • "Tōdaiji Temple’s Multicultural Eye-Opening Ceremony" 「東大寺の多文化的な開眼供養」

Premodern Japanese Religions Workshop (PJRW), online; Aug. 2025

Evolution and Representation of Prince Shotoku Cult: Intersections between History, Ideas and Art 「聖徳太子信仰の展開と表象：歴史、思想、美術の交差点」

  • “The Legacy of Prince Shōtoku in the Development of Japanese Traditional Music”『聖徳太子が雅楽の発展に与えた遺産』

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK; Mar. 2025

Edinburgh Buddhist Studies roundtable: What is Vinaya and How Should We Study It?

  • Panel: “The Vinaya Outside: Commentaries, Handbooks and Monastic Transmission”
  • "Vinaya and Buddhist Transmission in Early Japan"

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK; Mar. 2024

Edinburgh Buddhist Studies roundtable: Curating Buddhism 

  • “Using Museum Resources in the Classroom”​

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK; Feb. 2024

Edinburgh Buddhist Studies workshop: Works-in-Progress

  • “Ordination Precepts and Platforms in Nara Japan”

University of Sheffield, Sheffield UK ; June 2023

Transpacific East Asia: Transformations and Trajectories in Music and Sound

  • “Celebration and Celebrants: The Multicultural Spectacle of Tōdaiji Temple’s Eye-Opening Ceremony”

The KIZUNA India-Japan Study Forum, New Delhi IN/Online ; Feb. 2023

Discovering India-Japan Civilizational Ties and Southeast Asia Connectivities

  • “South Indian Faces & Traces in Eighth-Century Japan: The Life & Legacy of Bodhisena.”

Princeton University, Princeton NJ USA ; Sept. 2022

Doctrine and Practice beyond Borders: International Interactions in East Asian Buddhism

  • “The Vinaya Veneer: Reexamining the Role of Monastic Precepts in Japan’s Precepts Master Solicitation”

American Academy of Religion (AAR), San Antonio TX USA/Online ; Nov. 2021

Panel: Religion in Service to the Japanese State

  • “Tōdaiji Temple as State Protector and Familial Temple.”

Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Online due to COVID-19 ; Mar. 2021

  • “Precepts, Platforms, and Politics: Eighth Century Japan's Precepts Master Solicitation.”

Columbia University, New York NY USA ; Feb. 2017 EALAC: 26th Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia                                   

  • “The Ongoing Legacy of Ethnicity for Bodhisena, the First Indian in Japan.”

Columbia University & Bukkyō Daigaku, Kyoto JP ; June 2016 Encounters & Intersections in East Asian Religions: A Columbia University Graduate Student Conference in Kyoto

  • “They Say He Came From India: the Eighth Century Brahman Bishop Bodhisena’s Use in Medieval Japanese Art, Literature, and Religion”「中世日本の美術、文学、宗教に登場する八世紀のバラモン僧正菩提僊那」 (in Japanese).

American Academy of Religion (AAR), Montreal QC CA ; May 2008 Eastern International Regional Conference, McGill University   

  • “Buddhist Nationalism in the Development of the Japanese State”

 

Invited speaker

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Japan Research Centre; Dec. 2024

  • “Performing Cultures: Multicultural Music & Dance in Eighth-Century Japan”

University of Bristol, Department of Religion and Theology seminar series; Nov. 2024

  • “The World on Stage: Multicultural Music and Dance at Tōdaiji Temple’s Eye-Opening Ceremony”

Salisbury University, Salisbury MD USA ; Mar. 2021

  • “Buddhism and the Nara State,” for “Japan and Korea in the Chinese Crucible” course

Doshisha University, Kyoto Asian Studies Group ; Oct. 2019

  • “Platforms of Legitimacy: Searching for a Precepts Master and Shifting Monastic Ordinations in Eighth Century Japan.”

Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies ; Oct. 2019

  • “Guided tour around Nara.”

Fulbright International Education Administrators ; June 2019

  • “How Religion Helped Shape Kyoto: A Brief Tour Through Higashiyama”

Columbia University, New York NY USA ; Mar. 2018

  • “Japan and South Korea: Additional Tensions and Controversies” for “Introduction East Asian Civilizations: Korea” course

Organiser

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK; Feb. 2025 Edinburgh Buddhist Studies: Works-in-Progress Workshop                            

This article was published on