Buddhist texts
Buddhism influenced both printing and reading. The earliest references to reading in Japan relates to Buddhist texts. (251) There is a question regarding “reading” because at first Buddhist texts were printed as a meritorious act and “reading” was secondary. Buddhist texts were studied and there was a ritualized reading of them. When discussing reading of the sutras and other tests, “reading” takes a number of forms: silent vs. chanted, individual vs. mass/group. During the Nara and Heian periods, there was a number of public readings of Buddhist texts for devotional and other religious reasons. (252)