What zushi means
A zushi is a cabinet with doors for enshrining a Buddhist image, sutras or relics. It is placed in the inner sanctuary of a hall or on the altar platform and often holds the principal image or a hidden image. Many are made as miniature halls with roofs, posts and bracket sets, and as small-scale architecture they also record the building styles of their time.
The doors are kept closed to protect the image and opened for services or public showings; some zushi holding hidden images remain closed for long periods. They range from pieces small enough to carry to cabinets large enough to enter, and many are decorated with lacquer, gold leaf, paint and metal fittings.
A zushi inside a building may be treated as a separate craft object, or it may be designated or registered together with the building as one of its attachments.
Reading the records and the object
Building records usually list zushi as attachments. The Kannon hall of Hasedera on Sado, Niigata, is recorded in its structure line with three zushi, and the commentary says they stand in each bay at the back of the inner sanctuary. At Engyoji in Himeji, Hyogo, the Kongodo includes one zushi and the Okunoin two as supplementary designations. When a zushi is designated as a supplement to an Important Cultural Property building, it falls within the same designation as the building (see Tsuketari).
A sculpture record that includes the word zushi-iri, housed in a zushi, indicates an image kept in one. Whether image and zushi are designated together or the image alone can be checked from the name and the count of pieces.
On site, look at the back of the sanctuary or on the altar platform for a cabinet or miniature hall with doors. Zushi holding hidden images are usually closed.
References
- 長谷寺観音堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007737
- 円教寺金剛堂｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/2258
- 円教寺奥之院｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/2261
Last verified: 2026.09.26