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

This hanging bronze votive plaque (kakebotoke) has relief images of Buddhist deities affixed to it. The base is mirror-shaped and edged in a separate piece of metal. Under Shinto-Buddhist combinatory thought, indigenous kami were thought to be manifestations of Buddhist deities. Drawing on this belief, the images on this plaque represent the original Buddhist forms (honji butsu) of the combinatory deities (gongen) enshrined in the twelve subsidiary shrines of Kumano’s three main shrines. A metal fitting with a ring attached to it to suspend the plaque is attached to either side. The fitting on the viewer’s left is a recent replacement. The deities and their pedestals were hammered out in repoussé, holes were bored at the top and bottom of each one, and copper wires were used to affix them to the plaque. The mandorlas are gilt bronze with openwork decoration. The pedestal of the central buddha Amida (Skt. Amitābha) appears to have once had decorations hanging from it. Gilt-bronze flower petals are scattered between the deities, and a pair of water pitchers flank the Wisdom King Fudo (J. Fudo Myōō; Skt. Acala) and the deva Bishamonten (Skt. Vaiśravaṇa). The plaque is silver plated, the deities are gilt, and their lips are painted in colored pigments. Although the images have an regimented appearance characteristic of the late Kamakura period (1185–1333), they are in a somewhat formalized style that suggests they date to the 14th century.

The Buddhist forms of the combinatory deities of Kumano’s three main shrines are the three central figures. The buddha Amida corresponding to Hongū Shrine is in the center, the Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Kannon (J. Senju Kannon; Skt. Sahasrabhuja-avalokiteśvara) corresponding to Nachi Shrine is to the viewer’s left, and the buddha Yakushi (Skt. Bhaiṣajyaguru) corresponding to Shingū Shrine is on the right. The buddha Śākyamuni representing the deity Kanjō Jūgosho is in the top center. Clockwise, the remaining Buddhist deities and their corresponding shrine deities are: the bodhisattva Monju (Skt. Mañjuśrī) corresponding to Ichiman no Miya, the bodhisattva Jizō (Skt. Kṣitigarbha) corresponding to Zenji no Miya, the bodhisattva Ryūju (Skt. Nāgārjuna) corresponding to Hijiri no Miya, the Wisdom King Fudō corresponding to Higyō Yasha, the deva Bishamonten corresponding to Yonamochi Kongō, the bodhisattva Kannon corresponding to Komori no Miya, the bodhisattva Nyoirin Kannon (Skt. Cintāmaṇicakra) corresponding to Ko no Miya and the bodhisattva Fugen (Skt. Samantabhadra) corresponding to Juman no Miya. The “princes of the five places” (Gosho Ōji) include the deities Wakamiya, Zenji no Miya, Hijiri no Miya, Ko no Miya, and Komori no Miya. Excluding Wakamiya, four of the five princes are placed above and below the deities of Kumano’s three main shrines. The remaining five deities are known as the “shining deities of the four places” (Shisho Myōjin; Ichiman no Miya and Juman no Miya represent the same place, resulting in five deities on the plaque) and are set to the left and right of the deities of the three main shrines. The positioning of Fudo and Bishamonten opposite each other at the bottom is seen in Kumano Mandalas and works associated with the esoteric Tendai school. At the top, Śākyamuni is shown with the attendant bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen to form a triad. These elements were likely based on specific compositional principles when the plaque was produced.

The larger size of the buddha Amida for Hongū Shrine in the center and the inclusion of flower petals suggest the plaque was produced as a powerful act of prayer to invoke the buddha Amida.