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

Joku is the name for matting used for several purposes, including spreading on a desk to put the donated treasures on. As some sumi-ink inscriptions, such as hanadukue-joku (joku for desks for sutras and other Buddhist altar equipments), kyoudai joku (joku for sutra stands) and kouza (seat for lecturers), indicate, joku were sometimes made for desks, and sometimes for persons to sit on. Those joku-s use different materials for the filling according to the purposes. Those made to spread on objects, e.g., desks, use the woven mat(s) of soft rush or hemp cloth as the filling material. Colorful Japanese brocade is usually used as the front-side cloth, but there are some cases where fabrics with a twill weave are used instead. Dyed fabrics such as kyoukechi (textiles dyed by carved block resist) are also sometimes used. In many cases, koukechi (textiles dyed by bound resist) plain silk is used for the backside. The shape is usually rectangular, but there are also square and round ones. In Shosoin, there is an octagonal one made to fit the shape of the stand for donated treasures. Among these joku with different shapes, rectangular, square, octagon, and others, there are some with another characteristic; they have a frame made with another piece of cloth around the matting.
　This joku uses the woven mat of soft rush wrapped with hemp cloth as the filing, while the front side is yoko-nishiki (weft brocade, brocade with colored horizontal threads) with shuryou-mon (hunting pattern) using wefts of two different colors, and the back side is koukechi plain silk with small meyui-mon (white-dotted pattern). The brocade has circles each of which is surrounded by a series of small circles and a grape arabesque pattern. Within each circle, the motif of a figure on a horse, looking back and shooting an arrow to a creature that appears to be a lion, is put on four places at even intervals. The flower trees show a sign of Japanese style, and the expression of the pattern of small circles lacks strength. These facts suggest that the time of production of this piece is later than that of Shiki Shishi Karimonkin (brocade with lion hunting, National Treasure), in Horyu-ji, Nara, which is widely considered to be the one of the best hunter-pattern pieces.