Three Scrolls From a Vanished Set
Among the calligraphy holdings of the Tokyo National Museum are three handscrolls of the Lotus Sutra written on paper strewn with gold and silver. They belong to a celebrated group known as the Kunoji-kyo, after the temple of Kunō-ji on Kunōzan in Shizuoka, today called Tesshū-ji, where they were long kept. The three here carry the texts of the Muryōgi-kyo, the opening sutra, and two chapters of the Lotus itself, the Hosshi-bon, on the teacher of the Dharma, and the Anrakugyō-bon, on peaceful practices.
To understand them you have to picture the whole. The Kunoji-kyo was conceived as a kechien ippongyō, a sutra copied so that many hands could share the merit. The Lotus Sutra divides into eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters; add an opening sutra and a closing one and the count reaches thirty scrolls. Each was entrusted to a single patron, one person to one scroll, and the end of each records the name of who took it on.
Those names point high. The circle gathered around Taikenmon-in, consort of the retired emperor Toba, and included the sovereign himself together with imperial consorts and court ladies. The work dates to the twelfth century, the late Heian age, when the court turned the copying of scripture into an art of gold leaf and tinted paper.
Important, and Older Than the Famous Ones
A point of care comes first. The three scrolls at the Tokyo National Museum are Important Cultural Property, designated on 29 March 1952. They are not the National Treasure version. The thirty-scroll set was scattered over the centuries, and the pieces went separate ways: nineteen scrolls remain at Tesshū-ji and hold National Treasure status, three are here at the museum, two are at the Gotoh Museum, four are in private hands, and four more are lost, their location unknown. The museum's three and the others outside Tesshū-ji carry the Important Cultural Property rank.
Rank aside, the Kunoji-kyo matters for its age. It predates the better-known Heike Nōkyō, the sutra set the Taira clan dedicated at Itsukushima, and it stands among the earliest surviving decorated sutras that come down to us in any number. That places these scrolls near the source of a tradition, at the moment the Heian court was perfecting the idea that a sacred text could also be a luxury object.
The patron names recorded on the scrolls are firm evidence. The wider story, that the set was first dedicated at Anrakuju-in, the Kyoto vow temple of Emperor Toba, before passing to Kunō-ji, rests on scholarly reconstruction, and the exact membership of the circle is read from those colophons rather than from a single contemporary account.
Reading the Decoration
Bring your eye close, when the scrolls are shown, and the surface resolves into technique. The paper of all three is worked with gold and silver: cut foil in small flakes, sand-fine sprinkled metal, and slender threads of it, scattered across the sheet. The ruled lines that order the columns of text are drawn not in black but in silver ink, a quiet refinement most copyists would not have troubled with.
The Anrakugyō-bon goes furthest. Along the top and bottom margins it carries lotus blossoms and curling arabesques painted in gold and silver, so that the scripture runs through a field of ornament. The effect is deliberate. Merit, in this way of thinking, was honored by labor and by material, and the patrons spent both.
A practical word. Works this fragile cannot stay on permanent view; they appear only for limited periods in the museum's rotation, and a given scroll may not be out when you visit. Before making a special trip, check the Tokyo National Museum's exhibition schedule. High-resolution images of all three are available through the e-Museum site of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, which lets you study the gold-work at any time.
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Q&A
- Is the Kunoji-kyo a National Treasure?
- Part of it is. The nineteen scrolls at Tesshū-ji are a National Treasure. The three scrolls at the Tokyo National Museum, the subject here, are Important Cultural Property, designated in 1952.
- What are the three texts?
- The Muryōgi-kyo, which serves as the opening sutra, and two chapters of the Lotus Sutra: the Hosshi-bon, on the teacher of the Dharma, and the Anrakugyō-bon, on peaceful practices.
- Who made them?
- They were produced by a circle of Heian-period nobility around Taikenmon-in, consort of the retired emperor Toba. Each of the thirty original scrolls was assigned to one patron, whose name is recorded at the scroll's end.
- What makes the decoration special?
- The paper is covered with gold and silver foil, sprinkled metal, and fine strands, and the ruling lines are silver. The Anrakugyō-bon adds lotus and arabesque motifs in gold and silver along the upper and lower edges.
- Can I see them at the museum any time?
- No. As fragile early scrolls they are displayed only for limited periods, so check the museum's schedule in advance. Online images are available through the e-Museum site.
Basic Information
| Name | Lotus Sutra (Hosshi-bon, Anrakugyō-bon / Muryōgi-kyo) (Kunoji-kyo) |
|---|---|
| Holding institution | Tokyo National Museum, 13-9 Ueno Park, Taito, Tokyo |
| Owner | National Institutes for Cultural Heritage |
| Category | Important Cultural Property (calligraphy and classics) |
| Designated | 29 March 1952 |
| Period | Heian period, 12th century |
| Count | 3 scrolls |
| Public access | Displayed only periodically; check the museum's exhibition schedule. Images available via e-Museum. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Lotus Sutra (Kunoji-kyo)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/8161
- e-Museum (National Institutes for Cultural Heritage): Lotus Sutra (Kunoji-kyo), Anrakugyō-bon
- https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/detail?content_base_id=100369&content_part_id=002&content_pict_id=0&langId=ja
- Cultural Heritage Online (NII): Lotus Sutra (Kunoji-kyo)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/200323
- Gotoh Museum: Kunoji-kyo, Lotus Sutra Hosshi-kudoku-bon
- https://www.gotoh-museum.or.jp/2020/10/08/08-206-373/
Last verified: 2026.06.22