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

　Kokuzo (Skt. Ākāśagarbha) is a bodhisattva believed to have unlimited virtues just like a void (koku). The Kokuzo with golden body wears a jeweled crown with five deities (gobutsu hokan) and sits in the lotus position (kekka fuza) while holding the stalk of lotus flower on which three flame-shaped sacred jewels are placed in the left hand and stretching the right arm down with a mudra Yogan’in. This style is matched to the principal icon of the Gumonjiho ritual praying for memory improvement, however, some features such as no emitted light are different from the iconography believed to be the original icon and it may be an image for another purpose such as good luck. The unique features, such as the cloud rising from the top of the head that spreads like a roof and the scenery in a deep mountain with plum and cherry trees and a waterfall at the bottom, are notable. This mountain is different from Mt. Asama placed in Ise of Mie Prefecture drawn in the same position in the other paintings of Kokuzo and can be seen as a Japanese style of Mt. Sumeru (Shumi sen) that appeared in the image held as a national treasure in the Tokyo National Museum. The image has an intelligent look on the face and each part of the clothing is colorfully painted and cut gold leaves (kirikane) patterns are applied and the folds of the robe (ishu) are drawn in kirikane lines. Due to the rigidly formal style, it is considered that this painting was drawn in the late Kamakura period (1185–1333).