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

　This text states the answers of the priest of Kegon sect Myoe (Koben; 1173–1232) to the questions from a nun Shozen. Myoe wrote it by himself at the age of fifty-two. The beginning of the text is stamped with the red seals of “Kosanji Temple” and Jumujin-in.”
　Myoe was a high Buddhist priest in the early Kamakura period (1185–1333) who deeply adored Shakamuni (Skt. Śākyamuni) and thus tried at bringing Buddhism back to what it originally had been. He entered the Buddhist priesthood at Jingoji Temple at a tender age. After training himself in Kii Province (present-day Wakayama Prefecture), he founded Kosanji Temple in Togano (present-day Kyoto Prefecture). As he respected the Buddhist commandments and was a high-minded man, he was venerated by many people.
　The questions and answers are about whether the tatami mats in the Worship Room (Rai-do) of the Golden Hall (Kon-do) of Jingoji Temple could be placed in the Small Prayer Hall (Jibutsu-do), whether the old coffer for the Mandala of the Two Worlds ( Ryobu Mandara) could be adapted for the coffer for laying out a Buddhist statue and whether a rice field could be developed on and by the site of the hall in Hiraoka area, etc. Myoe himself added the notation to aid the reading of the text such as phonetic script (okuri gana) and return marks (kaeri ten) and at the end of the text it is written that he wrote the manuscript on March 7, Jouo 3 (1224) by order of Shinshobo (深證房).
　On the site of the hall in Hiraoka, Zenmyoji Temple was built in Jouo 2 (1223), therefore these questions and answers seem to have been written before that. Probably Myoe made a fair copy for providing information again in Jouo 3 (1224). Different from writings about the study of Buddhism, this text is a valuable relic because it reveals the way Myoe thought about everyday matters.