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

Nenju, also called Juzu, is a string of beads or a rosary, generally used in Buddhist services even now. Originally, a certain number of beads (basically 108 beads) were strung on thread and used for counting the chant of repeating the name of Amida (Shômyô) or Darani (magical words). The two strands of Nenju in N-287 and N-288 are considered to be those listed in "Kokin-mokuroku-sh" (the Catalogue of the Ancient and Modern) written by Kenshin in the Kamakura period (1192-1333) and "Onshariden-houmotsu-chûmon" (Order-book of Treasures for Reliquary Hall) collated in Tenmon 19 (1550), as one of the treasures enshrined in a reliquary hall. The Nenju in N-287 and N-288 come with a small lacquered case with a lid (J. Gousu), with the peony and cat patterns in the Kamakura period and a gilded bronze one with the pattern of Chinese milk vetch in the Edo period (1603 - 1868), respectively.