Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853–1908)

Ernest Francisco Fenollosa was an American historian of Japanese art.
After graduating Harvard University, he came to Japan in 1878 and taught at the Imperial University in Tokyo. While teaching, he studied Japanese antiques and introduced them abroad. He also instructed the preservation of antique arts with Okakura Tenshin and greatly influenced young artists. While Japan was promoting the Europeanization policy, Japanese art was not highly evaluated. He carried out further research and introduced Japanese art widely; therefore, it can be said that he was a benefactor for Japanese art.

He also made acquaintance with Sakurai Keitoku Ajari (a senior monk) from Homyoin Temple through Machida Hisanari, the first Director of the Tokyo National Museum. He asked Sakurai Keitoku Ajari to teach him Buddhism to receive the religious precepts. His Buddhist name was Taishin. Fenollosa suddenly passed away while traveling in London in 1908. According to his will, his ashes were buried in Homyoin Temple where he loved its sight. His tomb is a five-storied pagoda, and his posthumous name “Genchi-in Myotetsu-Taishin Koji” is engraved on the tombstone. His works that introduce Japanese arts include Bijutsu Shinsetsu (a record in Japanese of his lecture on “the true theory of art”), The Masters of Ukiyoe, Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art.