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

This early cast-bronze seal with a small hole through its plectrum-shaped handle belonged to Shio-ji, a temple affiliated with Fort Akita, in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. During the Edo period (1615-1868), the seal was brought to Sekizen-in, a subtemple of Shogo-in Monastery in Kyoto, where it became the central object of the Inrinsai, a ritual to worship the seal. The lines of the four ancient characters, "Shio-ji in" (literally, "Seal of the Four Kings Temple"), are deeply incised and appear to have been formed using the lost-wax technique of bronze casting. This is a rare, valuable example of an ancient bronze seal.