Mr Kateki and Love

The History of a Global Object

Abstract

This article examines a figure of transcultural misunderstandings: Katekisama. A statue of this name is owned by a Japanese Buddhist monastery and kept as national heritage in the national Museum in Tokyo – but this figure is none other than Erasmus of Rotterdam. Coming to Japan as a ship figure more than 400 years ago, it has shifted, accumulated, and merged identities for centuries.