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The history of religion is always a history of translation, too. When spoken words are transcribed, scriptures are created that are considered sacred and universally applicable. Translating holy writings in order to spread one’s own religion poses certain challenges for translators, such as how to bridge the gaps between source and target languages. Sometimes, the original language is no longer spoken or precisely known. In some religious traditions, a particular language is reserved for scriptures and considered untranslatable. And an ability to deal correctly with multiple writing systems and alphabets is also required. Religious texts are full of puzzles and mysteries. Deciphering (i.e. translating) them is also an important part of today’s humanities. Materials from Leipzig University Library spanning two thousand years are a source of knowledge about humans’ efforts to explain their own or other people’s religion in words and images.

What was being ���childless��� supposed to mean and what did it actually mean to those living in medieval Japan? Buddhist texts from the Japanese medieval and early modern periods describe childlessness as a desirable state for ordained people. Buddhist ordination rules prescribed the renunciation of sexual acts, sexual reproduction, and thus children. At the same time, normative texts of the period describe childlessness as a source of grief for Buddhist laypeople. In Japan, having one���s own offspring was primarily important for ensuring the ritual care of deceased ancestors: living family members had to ensure that the deceased obtained enlightenment in the beyond. This contrast between the ordained who abstained from sexually reproductive acts and the sexually reproductive families who supported the monastics��� livelihood reflected a societal model that did not correspond wholly to social reality from the early Japanese medieval period onward. Nevertheless, an analysis of the interpretations and intra-religious debates about aspects of childlessness found in the normative sources of that period is worthwhile because the sources provide valuable information about the worries and needs of women and men of a specific region at a specific time. For this reason, they also provide a window on the local reality of life in medieval Japan that might be of interest for comparative studies on the topic of ���childlessness��� in other religions such as Catholicism, and in other parts of the medieval world. Keywords Japan; Buddhism; Childlessness; Japanese Christianity; Infertility, Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven medi��vistischer Forschung, Bd. 26 Nr. 2 (2021): Kinderlosigkeit im Mittelalter