Description
This illustrated scroll recounts the origin of and miraculous events related to the statue of Jizo Bosatsu, or Ksitigharbha, the principal deity of Seikoji, a temple located in Rokkaku-Omiya in Kyoto.
The first half features Taira no Sukechika, the governor of Yamashiro, an area located in modern-day Kyoto prefecture. After receiving a divine revelation from a Buddhist priest, the governor finds a statue of Jizo hidden among some brambles. He then builds Seiko-ji temple as a place to house the statue. The second half tells the tale of a nunnery that worships Jizo. A strong wind has blown the roof off the nunnery, but a young priest, who is a manifest of Jizo, quickly turn up to mend the thatched roof, while Jizo appears in a nun's dream as she passes away.
Jizo is depicted in a uniquely dynamic fashion, sitting in some scenes and standing in others. Of further note are the Chinese-style monochrome ink paintings on the sliding doors and folding screens inside Taira no Sukechika's residence. Ink paintings from China were status symbols at that time.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
June 8, 2026