Women, Rites, and Ritual Objects in Premodern Japan seeks to expand our understanding of the roles women played in rituals, how particular rituals were carried out, what types of implements or icons accompanied them, and how various ritual objects were used.

Karen M. Gerhart, Ph.D. (1992), is Professor of Japanese Art History at the University of Pittsburgh. She has published monographs and articles on Japan, including The Eyes of Power: Art and Early Tokugawa Authority (1999) and The Material Culture of Death in Medieval Japan (2009).