Verses in the Voice of the People
Around 1248, in his mid-seventies, the priest Shinran began setting his deepest religious convictions into short poems written in everyday Japanese, rather than the classical Chinese that Buddhist learning normally demanded. He went on expanding and correcting these verses almost until his death in 1263. Three booklets gathering them, written partly in Shinran's own brush, are kept today at Senju-ji temple in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, where they were designated a National Treasure on November 14, 1953.
The work is known as the Sanjo Wasan, the "Three Volumes of Hymns." A wasan is a song of praise composed in Japanese and set to the seven-and-five syllable beat of traditional verse, meant to be chanted aloud during temple services. Shinran, who founded the Jodo Shinshu or True Pure Land school of Buddhism, used the form to render difficult doctrine into language that ordinary followers could sing and remember. Historians often cite this choice as one reason his teaching reached so far among farmers and townspeople who could not read scripture in Chinese.
Each of the three booklets carries its own theme. The Jodo Wasan, with 118 hymns, praises Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. The Koso Wasan, with 119 hymns, honors seven earlier masters from India, China, and Japan whom Shinran named as the lineage that carried the teaching down to him. The Shozomatsu Wasan, with 116 hymns, reflects on living in what Buddhists called the age of the declining Dharma, a time when awakening through one's own effort was thought to lie beyond reach.
Why These Booklets Are a National Treasure
Many later copies of the hymns exist. In the fifteenth century the priest Rennyo had them printed alongside Shinran's "Hymn of True Faith" so that congregations could recite them morning and evening. What sets the Senju-ji set apart from those printed editions and later transcriptions is its nearness to Shinran himself. No manuscript survives that is entirely in his handwriting, yet this set is accepted as preserving portions he wrote or corrected by hand.
Scholars generally regard the Shozomatsu Wasan booklet as carrying Shinran's own writing, while the Jodo and Koso hymns appear to be fair copies prepared by senior disciples and then marked up by Shinran in his own brush. Those corrections are a large part of why specialists prize the set. They show an author in his eighties still weighing one word against another and reordering a line here and there, and they give researchers a rare route for tracing how the verses settled into the form recited today.
Senju-ji holds a second National Treasure in Shinran's hand, the Saiho Shinansho, a set of writings by his teacher Honen that Shinran copied out. Along with letters and other documents kept at the temple, these two works place Senju-ji among the most important holdings of Shinran's autograph material anywhere in Japan.
Seeing the Hymns and the Temple
The booklets are fragile and are not on permanent view. They appear on occasion in special exhibitions at Senju-ji's new treasure hall, the Tokoden, which opened in 2023, and in loan exhibitions at museums such as the Mie Prefectural Museum. Anyone hoping to see the actual manuscripts should check the temple's exhibition schedule before traveling.
Even when the hymns are in storage, the temple that guards them rewards a visit. Senju-ji is the head temple of the Takada branch of Jodo Shinshu and the center of Isshinden, an old temple town whose streets still follow their early-modern plan. Its two main halls, the Mieido and the Nyoraido, were named National Treasures in 2017, the first buildings in Mie Prefecture to receive that rank. The Mieido, which enshrines a wooden image of Shinran, ranks among the five largest wooden National Treasure structures in the country, with some 780 tatami mats covering its floor. Both halls are open to visitors at no charge.
If you can read even a little Japanese, try saying a few of the hymns quietly to yourself. They were written to be heard, and their plain rhythm is the same one congregations have followed for more than seven centuries.
Around Senju-ji
The grounds cover roughly twice the area of the Tokyo Dome and draw about 300,000 visitors a year, yet outside festival days they rarely feel crowded. Behind the Mieido lies the Un'yuen garden, a prefecturally designated scenic spot, and the temple is well known for its lotus, with more than a hundred pots of around 35 varieties flowering through the summer. The lotus carries particular meaning here, since the flower has long served as an image of the Pure Land.
The liveliest time to come is early January, during the week-long Oshichiya memorial for Shinran, held from the 9th to the 16th. On those nights the raised corridor linking the two halls, the Tsutenkyo, is lit up, and the surrounding town fills with stalls and pilgrims.
Senju-ji sits about five minutes on foot from JR Isshinden Station and roughly twenty minutes from Kintetsu Takada-honzan Station. By car it is about fifteen minutes from either the Tsu or Geino interchange on the Ise Expressway, with free parking near the JR station.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Mie
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Three Volumes of Japanese Hymns (written by Shinran)
- [ Ise Grand Shrine & Shima Bay Cruise Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I see the actual Sanjo Wasan manuscripts when I visit?
- Not as a rule. The booklets are kept in storage to protect them and are shown only during special exhibitions, usually at the temple's Tokoden treasure hall or on loan to museums. Check the current schedule before you travel.
- What language are the hymns written in, and why does that matter?
- They are written in Japanese rather than the classical Chinese that Buddhist scholarship used at the time. Plain Japanese let ordinary people sing and grasp the teaching, which is widely seen as one reason Pure Land Buddhism spread so widely.
- Did Shinran really write these by hand?
- In part. No fully autograph manuscript survives anywhere, but the Senju-ji set is accepted as containing his own writing, especially in the Shozomatsu Wasan, along with corrections he added to copies made by his disciples.
- How much does it cost to visit Senju-ji?
- Entry to the two National Treasure halls is free. Special exhibitions at the treasure hall may charge admission and sometimes require advance booking.
- When is the best time to visit?
- Early January, during the Oshichiya memorial, brings the most atmosphere, while summer is the season for the temple's lotus. The two main halls can be seen comfortably year round.
Basic Information
| Name | Sanjo Wasan (Three Volumes of Hymns), in the hand of Shinran |
|---|---|
| Designation | National Treasure (Calligraphy and Books) |
| Date of designation | November 14, 1953 |
| Period | Kamakura period (composed c. 1248-1257) |
| Quantity | 3 booklets |
| Attributed author | Shinran (1173-1263) |
| Owner and location | Senju-ji, 2819 Isshinden-cho, Tsu City, Mie Prefecture |
| Public access | Not on permanent display; shown during special exhibitions. The Mieido and Nyoraido halls are open free of charge, 6:00-15:30. |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/696
- Senju-ji, Head Temple of the Takada Branch: National Treasure Sanjo Wasan
- https://www.senjuji.or.jp/national-treasure/sanjou/
- Senju-ji Guide: Sanjo Wasan
- https://senjuji-guide.jp/contents/content04/
- Tsu City: A National Treasure Is Born, Senju-ji Mieido and Nyoraido
- https://www.info.city.tsu.mie.jp/www/senjuji/
- Kanko Mie: Takada Honzan Senju-ji Becomes a National Treasure
- https://www.kankomie.or.jp/report/253
Last verified: 2026.06.09