François Lachaud

Ussel, 1967Member of the École française d’Extrême-Orient since 2000

François Lachaud is Professor of Japanese Studies at the École française d’Extrême-Orient, where he holds the Chair of Buddhism and Japanese Civilisation. He also teaches in the Religious Studies department at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. His previous appointments include a lectureship in Japanese Studies at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (1995–2000) and leadership roles at the EFEO Centres in Kyoto (2001–2007), Paris (2008–2010), and Tokyo (2017–2024).

He completed his doctorate in East Asian Studies (Japanese Studies) in Paris in 1998 and was awarded the Stanislas Julien Prize in 2006 for his contributions to the study of East Asian cultures. A laureate of the agrégation in Japanese Language and Civilisation (1994), he also holds a Master of Arts in English and pursued advanced studies in historical linguistics at Oxford and Paris. Between 2011 and 2013, he was Senior Fellow in Art History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art) in Washington, D.C.

A scholar of religion and art history, he explores Japanese Buddhism, vernacular religious practices, art history, literature, and material culture. His work focuses on the vernacularisation of Buddhist practice, shamanistic traditions, and the depiction of war and heroism in military chronicles like the Heike monogatari. His engagement with folklore, antiquarianism, and supernatural traditions has resulted in extensive studies on yōkai, demonology, and conceptions of the afterlife, particularly their integration into vernacular religion. Through comparative analysis, he examines ghostly narratives and their visual and performative aspects, situating them within broader patterns of religious and cultural transmission.

In parallel, he has spent two decades researching diplomatic, artistic, and intellectual exchanges between Japan, China, Eurasia, and the West from the early modern period to the 20th century. His work on antiquarian scholarship and collecting practices examines how European and East Asian scholars, monks, and diplomats shaped the study of material culture and historical memory, blending rigorous textual analysis with a deep appreciation for the visual and material expressions of religious thought.

KeywordsJapanese Buddhism, religious studies, art history, folklore, military chronicles, nōh drama, supernatural traditions, cultural exchanges in East Asia, religious iconography, material culture.

キーワード宗教学・仏教学・美術史・民俗学・民間信仰・軍記物語・能楽・民間信仰における同化・東西交流史・宗教アイコノグラフィー・物質文化