There are far too few general books available on topics in Japanese art, and those who are intrepid enough to write them are insufficiently applauded for the difficult task. Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005 is an excellent example of an overview of Japanese Buddhist art done exceedingly well. It does a laudable job of surveying Japanese Buddhist arts from the early modern period continuing into the present, discussing an important body of visual materials that until now has been largely overlooked. The intention of the book, Patricia Graham states, is to “suggest new directions for research and to stimulate news ways of thinking about Buddhism and its relation to the visual arts” (viii). She overturns previous assumptions about the declining quality of Buddhist art of the early modern and modern periods, and of the decreasing importance of Buddhism in Japanese society and its ability to inspire fresh works of art. As Graham shows, the military bureaucracy and other elites continued to support institutional Buddhism and its arts during the Tokugawa period (1600–1868), even as non-elites became an increasing factor in Buddhist artistic practices. Both groups participated in the developing production of non-denominational visual materials as an expression...