Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku, Colored on Silk

Silk-Painted Biography of Prince Shōtoku at Myōan-ji: A Kamakura-Era Window into Pure Land Eastern Japan

In the quiet farmland of Bandō City in Ibaraki Prefecture stands Myōan-ji, a temple of the Jōdo Shinshū Ōtani-ha (True Pure Land Buddhism, Higashi Honganji branch). Tucked into its long history is one of the most significant Buddhist paintings of medieval eastern Japan: the Kenpon Chakushoku Shōtoku Taishi E-den, or "Silk-Painted Biography of Prince Shōtoku" — a set of four hanging scrolls designated as a National Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government. These scrolls vividly narrate the legendary life of Prince Shōtoku (574–622), the imperial regent widely credited with establishing Buddhism as a state religion in Japan, and they offer an irreplaceable glimpse into how Pure Land followers in the eastern provinces spread their faith during the Kamakura period.

Historical Background: A Temple Born of a Dream

The story of Myōan-ji begins with one of the most remarkable disciples of Shinran (1173–1263), the founder of Jōdo Shinshū. The disciple was Jōnen, born as Kujō Yukizane, a nobleman descended from the powerful Kujō branch of the Fujiwara clan. According to temple tradition, Yukizane had been exined to Ichinoya in Shimōsa Province (today's Sakai Town, Ibaraki) when he learned that Shinran was preaching in nearby Inada in Hitachi Province (present-day Kasama City). Drawn by both kinship and faith, he sought Shinran out, eventually took the Buddhist name Jōnen, and became one of the so-called "Twenty-four Disciples" (Nijūyo-hai) — Shinran's most trusted students in the east.

In 1232, as Shinran prepared to return to Kyoto, he entrusted Jōnen with mementos and instructions to found a new temple for spreading Pure Land teachings. Soon after, Jōnen is said to have received a vision of Prince Shōtoku himself, urging him to restore an abandoned Buddhist site in Mimura. That site, called Katsuragi-ji of the Sanron school, was believed to have been founded by Prince Shōtoku in the late sixth century under Empress Suiko. In 1233, with the support of the Satake clan, Jōnen rebuilt the hall and renamed it Myōan-ji. From this dramatic origin grew a temple where Pure Land devotion and reverence for Prince Shōtoku have been intertwined for nearly eight centuries.

Why This Painting Matters: A Treasure of the Eastern Pure Land Mission

Stories of Prince Shōtoku's life were codified in the tenth-century Shōtoku Taishi Denryaku, a hagiography that drew explicit parallels between the prince and the historical Buddha. From the late Heian period, Hōryū-ji temple in Nara began producing painted biographies and child statues of the prince, and these visual narratives spread the cult of Prince Shōtoku across Japan.

By the Kamakura period (1185–1333), devotion to Prince Shōtoku reached new heights. Pure Land founders such as Hōnen and Shinran venerated him as the spiritual father of Japanese Buddhism — Shinran himself called the prince the "Teaching Master of Japan" (Wakoku no Kyōshu), a Japanese equivalent of Śākyamuni Buddha. Spreading this devotion eastward required pictorial sermons that ordinary people could follow, and so the long handscrolls of earlier centuries gave way to hanging-scroll formats that could be unrolled before village congregations. The Myōan-ji set of four scrolls is one of the most important surviving examples of this missionary art, produced specifically to serve the propagation work of the Pure Land community in the eastern provinces (Tōgoku Kyōdan). Its rarity, age, and the central role it played in transmitting Shinran's teachings combined to earn it national designation as an Important Cultural Property.

Highlights: Reading the Four Scrolls

The four scrolls trace Prince Shōtoku's life chronologically, distilling roughly seventy episodes from the Shōtoku Taishi Denryaku into vivid, episodic compositions. Reading them is rather like watching a slow, painted film — each panel a remembered miracle, each scroll a chapter of a sacred biography.

Where to See It: Visiting Mimura and Beyond

For travelers planning a visit, an important practical note: the original four scrolls are currently held in trust at the Tokyo National Museum, where their condition is carefully monitored and they may occasionally be displayed in special exhibitions. They are not on permanent view at Myōan-ji itself. However, visitors have meaningful alternatives that bring the painting to life in the very landscape where it was created and revered.

A high-quality, full-scale reproduction of all four scrolls was unveiled at the Bandō Museum (Bandō Kyōdokan Muse) and the painting is occasionally featured in special exhibitions there, sometimes accompanied by a lecture-style "picture explanation" (e-toki) by the head priest of Myōan-ji himself — a centuries-old tradition of narrating each painted episode to the assembled audience. Checking the museum's exhibition schedule before traveling is highly recommended.

Myōan-ji itself remains an active temple in the village of Mimura. The grounds, with their newer main hall and the venerable old hall sheltered by a large Japanese umbrella pine (kōyamaki), retain the quiet atmosphere of a Pure Land temple of the eastern provinces. As an active religious site, visits to the temple interior are generally limited to members and pilgrims, but the grounds and exterior welcome respectful visitors.

Nearby Attractions

Mimura sits at the heart of Bandō City, a region rich in pilgrimage history. Several other temples associated with Shinran's twenty-four disciples are within short driving distance, including Sainen-ji (the seventh of the twenty-four), Amida-ji in Nagasu, and Jōkoku-ji nearby. Together they form what local guides sometimes describe as a "Pure Land circuit" of the eastern provinces.

For visitors interested in broader Japanese history, the Bandō Museum also houses fascinating exhibits about Taira no Masakado, the tenth-century warrior who attempted to establish an independent eastern kingdom and whose legend looms over the region. The city is reached easily by car from Sakado IC or Bandō IC on the Ken-Ō Expressway, and lies about 50 kilometers from central Tokyo.