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

Ikoma Shrine (officially Ikomaniimasu Ikomatsuhiko Shrine) is located in the eastern foothills of Mount Ikoma to the west of the city of Nara. The Ikoma Shrine Mandala depicts a systematic layout of the site’s buildings as well as the original Buddhist forms (honji butsu) of its Shinto deities under Shinto-Buddhist combinatory thought. It also includes narrative scenes concerning the arrival of the enshrined deities. Slightly above the center of this mandala is a large rendering of seven shrines surrounded by a fence (mizugaki) and earthen walls. Shrine buildings, including a temporary shrine , worship hall, and entrance gate are drawn below. Additional temporary shrines as well as a stage to perform sacred kagura dances are set among cherry trees in the lower part.

Seven Buddhist deities are floating above the shrine. From the viewer’s left, these are the bodhisattva Monju (Skt. Mañjuśrī), the bodhisattva Jizō (Skt. Kṣitigarbha), the Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Ekādaśamukha-avalokiteśvara), the buddha Shaka (Skt. Śākyamuni), the buddha Amida (Skt. Amitābha), the buddha Yakushi (Skt. Bhaiṣajyaguru), and the deva Bishamonten (Skt. Vaiśravaṇa). These figures are the respective Buddhist forms of the Shinto deities Katsuragi no Takanukahime no Mikoto (the mother of Empress Jingū), Okinaga Sukuneō no Mikoto (the father of Empress Jingū), Okinaga Tarashihime no Mikoto (Empress Jingū, the mother of Emperor Ōjin), Tarashi Nakatsuhiko no Mikoto (Emperor Chūai, the father of Emperor Ōjin), Hondawake no Mikoto (Emperor Ōjin, later deified as Hachiman), Ikomatsuhiko no Kami and Ikomatsuhime no Kami. In summary, the three Hachiman deities comprising Emperor Ōjin and his parents are in the center along with Empress Jingū’s parents, and the Ikoma deities are placed on the right side. The top of the mandala shows Hachiman descending to Mount Ikoma with his retinue. This image alludes to when Hachiman, the god of archery and war, was invoked and enshrined at Ikoma Shrine during the Mongol invasions in the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). With its detailed depictions, the mandala is an important example representing Shinto-Buddhist combinatory thought during the Kamakura period.