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

Priest Myoe (1173-1232), posthumously known as Koben, was born as the son of the warrior Taira Shigekuni and his wife, who was the daughter of Yuasa Muneshige. He is also known as the priest who restored Kosan-ji Temple. This "dream diary" records the dreams that Myoe had for about forty years from 1191 (Kenkyu 2), around the age of nineteen, to 1231 (Kangi 3), the year before his death at age fifty-nine. Myoe had various dreams, and his diary reflects his thoughts and actions at those times. Today, seventeen segments in various formats of the dream diary remain at Kosan-ji (one handscroll, nine folios, two accordion books, two booklets, and three hanging scrolls). In addition to this, several segments have been preserved in various places. The present handscroll is stamped with the red square seals "Kosan-ji" and "Hobenchi-in," indicating that it belonged to the temple. Composed of seven sheets of paper, it covers the years of 1207 (Ken'ei 2), 1209 (Shogen 3), 1211 (Kenryaku 1), and unidentified years. Four of the seven sheets have writing on the reverse side: a letter written in a cursive kana script can be seen on the back of the fourth and fifth sheets of paper, and a portion of what appears to be the dream diary is recorded on the back of the first and sixth sheets.