A Statesman's Brush: The Lotus Sutra Copied by Madenokoji Nobufusa
A single scroll, carrying a colophon dated the thirteenth day of the fifth month of Karyaku 1 (1326), preserves part of the eighth and final fascicle of the Lotus Sutra. The hand that copied it belonged to Madenokoji Nobufusa, one of the most trusted courtiers of Emperor Go-Daigo. The scroll survives only in part, which is why its formal name marks it as a fragment, and it has been an Important Cultural Property since 1935. Today it is kept by the Maeda Ikutokukai foundation in Tokyo.
Copying a Buddhist sutra by hand was an act of devotion, a way of accruing merit and offering prayer. When the copyist was a senior court noble at the height of his influence, the resulting scroll carries a double weight: it is a religious object and a trace of the man. Nobufusa wrote this in 1326, the same years in which he served as Major Counselor and stood close to the centre of a court moving toward open conflict with the Kamakura shogunate.
The Lotus Sutra, one of the most revered scriptures of East Asian Buddhism, was commonly divided into eight fascicles. This scroll holds the concluding portion, the part that closes the teaching. What gives it standing beyond its sacred text is the identity and the brushwork of the person who set it down.
Who Was Nobufusa, and Why His Hand Matters
Madenokoji Nobufusa (1258–1348) was a court noble who rose to Junior First Rank and the office of Major Counselor. History remembers him alongside Kitabatake Chikafusa and Yoshida Sadafusa as one of the "Later Three Fusa," the three counsellors closest to Emperor Go-Daigo. His best-known service came in 1324, during the Shochu Incident, when Go-Daigo fell under suspicion of plotting to overthrow the shogunate. Nobufusa travelled to Kamakura as the emperor's envoy, argued his lord's case, and secured a verdict of innocence.
He was also valued as a calligrapher. The court culture of his day prized a refined, disciplined hand, and surviving pieces by Nobufusa show writing close to formal script, controlled and even. A sutra copy from such a figure was treated as worth preserving on two counts: the care of the writing itself, and its link to a statesman whose loyalty later generations held up as a model.
The designation of 1935 placed the scroll among the nationally recognised works of calligraphy and classics. Its early date in the list of such designations reflects how long this piece has been regarded as a benchmark, a securely dated example of noble sutra-copying from the closing years of the Kamakura period.
How and Where to Encounter It
The honest starting point is that this is not a scroll you can simply walk in and view. It belongs to the Maeda Ikutokukai, the foundation that safeguards the collection assembled by the Maeda lords of the Kaga domain, housed in the Sonkeikaku Bunko in the Komaba district of Tokyo. That library serves approved researchers rather than the general public, and its reading service is in any case suspended until the summer of 2026.
There are better routes for a traveller. The Maeda collection rotates through public view in Kanazawa, the former Kaga castle town, where the foundation's holdings are shown year-round at the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art and at the historic Seisonkaku villa beside Kenrokuen garden. Calligraphy and classics from the collection also surface in special loan exhibitions at major museums, where a fragile fragment like this can be displayed for a limited run under controlled light.
If you are drawn to the meeting of faith, politics and the written line, watch the exhibition schedules of those Kanazawa institutions and of large museums in Tokyo and Kyoto. Seeing a sutra copied by a man who once stood before the Kamakura authorities to defend his emperor turns an abstract page of medieval history into something you can stand in front of and read.
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Q&A
- Can I see this scroll on display?
- Not on a regular basis. It is held by the Maeda Ikutokukai at the Sonkeikaku Bunko in Tokyo, which serves researchers rather than the public and has suspended reading access until summer 2026. Maeda treasures are shown to the public in Kanazawa and in occasional special exhibitions.
- Who was Madenokoji Nobufusa?
- A court noble (1258–1348) who reached Junior First Rank and Major Counselor, counted among the "Later Three Fusa," the closest advisers to Emperor Go-Daigo. In 1324 he went to Kamakura as the emperor's envoy and cleared him of suspicion of plotting against the shogunate.
- Why is it called a "fragment"?
- The scroll preserves only part of the eighth fascicle of the Lotus Sutra rather than the complete fascicle, so its formal name records it as a remnant scroll. It carries a colophon dated 1326.
- Why copy a sutra by hand at all?
- Hand-copying scripture was an act of Buddhist devotion that earned spiritual merit and served as prayer. When done by a senior noble, the copy was also valued as calligraphy and as a personal relic of an important historical figure.
- Where can I see other Maeda collection treasures?
- In Kanazawa, the foundation's holdings rotate year-round at the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art and at the Seisonkaku villa next to Kenrokuen. The collection famously includes the sword Odenta, one of the celebrated "Five Swords Under Heaven."
Basic Information
| Name | Lotus Sutra (Fragment of Fascicle 8, brushed by Madenokoji Nobufusa) |
|---|---|
| Holder | Maeda Ikutokukai (Sonkeikaku Bunko), Tokyo |
| Category | Important Cultural Property (Calligraphy and Classics) |
| Designation No. | 00250 |
| Designated | 30 April 1935 (Showa 10) |
| Date | Kamakura period, Karyaku 1 (1326) |
| Quantity | 1 scroll |
| Copyist | Madenokoji Nobufusa (per colophon dated Karyaku 1, fifth month, thirteenth day) |
| Viewing | Not on regular public display; Maeda holdings shown in Kanazawa and in occasional special exhibitions. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/7509
- Maeda Ikutokukai (official site)
- https://www.ikutokukai.or.jp/
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/
Last verified: 2026.06.22