National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This kesa robe belonged to Shunnoku Myōha, a prominent monk in the Nanbokuchō period, according to the record of the transmission (sōdenki) written on a piece of cloth cut off from the back side. It is clear that it was imported from China then, since it shows a number of characteristics of Chinese textiles of the Yuan period, such as the gauzy central denso part (lit. paddy-field-looking) woven with the particular triple-twisted threads, the dense and clear arabesque pattern of the gold-leaf imprints (inkin) on the cloth and the tapestry technique used in the frame-part and some of the cloth columns.