Historians will find much valuable material in Yiengpruksawan's book...since the works in question are Buddhist temples and objects associated with them, religion specialists too will surely profit from reading this book...The book's design is elegant and features 103 illustrations...[allowing] readers to see exactly what Yiengpruksawan is describing.
   --Robert Borgen, Journal of Japanese Studies

Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan has written a magnificent book about northern Japan. Through exhaustive investigation of historical documents, archaeological reports, extant visual evidence, as well as critical analysis of the vast corpus of Japanese scholarship, she presents for the first time in English a comprehensive cultural history of northern Japan. More importantly, she advances innovative interpretations regarding the production and perception of Buddhist art. This book raises issues about the ethnic and cultural diversity of ancient Japan, and the expression of self-identity in the visual arts…Her detailed reconstruction of the temple complexes and icons, and her knowledge of Buddhism and political history allow her to convincingly demonstrate that Kiyohira and Shirakawa, both vigorously establishing new regimes, used Buddhist art as a visual statement of the new political order to legitimize their right to rule.
   --Chari Pradel, The Journal of Asian Studies

Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan is Professor of Japanese Art History at Yale University.