Enmon Raden Kagami-kura: A National Treasure on a Tokyo Mountaintop
Turn the seat of this Kamakura-period saddle toward the light and the dark lacquer comes alive with rings of shell glinting in green and blue. The pattern is a row of concentric circles the Japanese call janome, the "snake's eye," each ring cut from iridescent turban shell and set into black ground. This is the Enmon Raden Kagami-kura, a warhorse's saddle with its full set of fittings, and it has come down almost intact for some seven centuries in the keeping of a single shrine.
The piece is held at Musashi Mitake Shrine, which sits at the top of Mount Mitake in Ome, on the wooded western edge of Tokyo. Reaching it still asks something of a visitor: a cable car up the slope, then a climb on foot through a village of pilgrim lodges. The reward is a treasure house holding two National Treasures, of which this saddle is one.
A Complete Set of Warrior's Tack
The fuller name given to the piece is Kinpukurin Enmon Raden Kagami-kura, and each part of it points to a feature. Kagami-kura, "mirror saddle," refers to the front pommel (maewa) and rear cantle (shizuwa), whose outer faces are sheathed in gilt-bronze plate polished to a reflective sheen. Kinpukurin names the gilt-bronze rim that edges the saddle. Enmon raden describes the circular shell inlay laid across the inner faces of pommel and cantle and over the top of the seat boards (igi).
What sets the object apart is that almost nothing is missing. The set comprises the saddle, a pair of iron, black-lacquered long-tongued stirrups (shitanaga-abumi), an iron bit, and the leather harness straps that fasten a saddle to a horse: the headstall, breast strap, and crupper, known together as the sangai. Complete Kamakura-period horse tack of this rank rarely survives, and curators describe this as the only full set of its kind left in Japan.
Why It Was Designated
The saddle was first protected in 1918 under the old framework that then applied the term "national treasure" to important art, and it was redesignated a National Treasure in 1957 under the present law. Its standing rests on three things: the rarity of a complete military saddle set, the quality of the shell inlay, and the close look it offers into the equipment of mounted warriors under the Kamakura shogunate.
The choice of materials also records a social rule. Sumptuary regulation of the period restrained the lavish use of mother-of-pearl across a whole object. The answer was to clad the visible outer surfaces in gilt-bronze and reserve the shell work for the inner faces and the seat, which produced the gilt-edged "mirror saddle" form. The design is at once a display of wealth and a way around the limits placed on it.
What to Look For
Stand close and the janome circles reveal how the maker worked. Each ring is built from cut pieces of shell, and the turban shell shifts colour as you move, so the seat seems to flicker rather than simply shine. The bit repays attention too. Its cheek-pieces take the apricot-leaf shape called gyōyō and carry an openwork design of the wish-granting jewel (nyoi-hōshu), a motif whose ancestry runs back to harness ornaments of the ancient burial-mound era.
The saddle shares the treasure house with the shrine's other National Treasure, a suit of red-laced armour from the close of the Heian period. By tradition that armour was given by the Kamakura warrior Hatakeyama Shigetada, and the shrine's renown grew on such offerings of arms by eastern fighting men. Both pieces were famous enough that the Tokugawa shoguns had them brought out for viewing, and the antiquarian compendium Shūko Jisshu, edited by Matsudaira Sadanobu, recorded them.
Visiting Mount Mitake
Mount Mitake has drawn worshippers for centuries, and the shrine stands within a small mountain settlement of oshi lodging houses that still take guests. From Mitake Station on the JR Ome Line, a bus runs to the cable car base at Takimoto; the cable car climbs to Mitakesan Station, and a walk of roughly twenty-five minutes up stone steps brings you to the shrine.
The treasure house opens on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, from 9:30 to 16:00, with admission of 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children. Displays are rotated and the hall occasionally closes, so the saddle is not guaranteed to be on view on any given day, and checking ahead is wise. The surrounding ridge offers gentle walking trails, among them the path to the Rock Garden and Nanayo Falls.
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Q&A
- What exactly is the Enmon Raden Kagami-kura?
- It is a complete set of horse tack for a warrior's mount from the Kamakura period (1185–1333): a saddle, stirrups, an iron bit, and the harness straps. The saddle is decorated with gilt-bronze and circular mother-of-pearl inlay, and the whole set is a designated National Treasure.
- Where can I see it?
- At the treasure house of Musashi Mitake Shrine, on the summit of Mount Mitake in Ome, western Tokyo. It is shown together with the shrine's other National Treasure, a red-laced suit of armour.
- Is it always on display?
- Not necessarily. The treasure house opens on weekends and public holidays, and exhibits are rotated, with the hall closing at times for maintenance, so it is best to confirm before travelling.
- What does "raden" mean?
- Raden is a technique in which thin pieces of iridescent shell are cut and set into a lacquer or wooden surface. Here the shell is turban shell, arranged in the concentric "snake's eye" pattern.
Basic Information
| Name | Enmon Raden Kagami-kura (円文螺鈿鏡鞍) |
|---|---|
| Designation | National Treasure (craft object) |
| Period | Kamakura period (1185–1333) |
| Components | Saddle (1), stirrups (1 pair), bit (1), crupper and harness straps |
| Important Cultural Property | 8 April 1918 |
| National Treasure | 19 February 1957 |
| Location | Musashi Mitake Shrine, Mt. Mitake, Ome, Tokyo |
| Owner | Mitake Shrine |
| Viewing | Treasure house, weekends and holidays 9:30–16:00 (adults ¥500, children ¥300); subject to change |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/504
- Musashi Mitake Shrine, Treasure House
- https://musashimitakejinja.jp/oyashiro/homotsu/
- Musashi Mitake Shrine, Treasure House (multilingual pages)
- https://musashimitakejinja.jp/homotsu_multilingual/ja/kinpukurin_ja.html
- Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto Shrine Museums
- https://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/museum/jinja/13/13_mitake.html
Last verified: 2026.06.12