Kamakura

A 1210 bronze bell at Kongo Sanmaiin, Mount Koya, ringed with deity names and nine Sanskrit mantras. A rare Important Cultural Property, unrung in its gate-tower.

A burial assemblage placing a lay devotee's bones near Kūkai's mausoleum at Okunoin in 1287, with a gilt-bronze pagoda and a cast bronze triad found in the earth.

A Kamakura manuscript with part of volume three of the Tang poet Bai Juyi's collected works, held at Sanbō-in on Mount Kōya, a witness to its transmission in Japan.

A Kamakura worship dais from the Fudō-dō on Mount Kōya, the low seat where a priest knelt to officiate, part of one original set with the flower-form altar.

A Kamakura ritual altar made for the Fudō-dō, oldest hall on Mount Kōya. Built in two parts on a square base, it once held the implements of esoteric Shingon rites.

Dated to 1312, the Hanagata Daidan is a Kamakura-period esoteric altar at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, its lotus-petal form a stage for the implements of a rite.

Two Kamakura tachi with chain straps, by tradition offered during the Mongol invasions. Held by the shrine of Kōyasan's guardians, now at the Tokyo National Museum.

A sandalwood shrine only 23 cm tall, carved in Tang China with twenty-five tiny deities and tied by tradition to the monk Kukai. A National Treasure on Mount Koya.

A Womb World Dainichi in meditation pose, this early Kamakura figure carries the taut, youthful manner of the Kei school, now kept by the Pure Land temple Jōkyō-ji.

A Kamakura-period Dainichi Nyorai in the main hall of Sainan-in, a Mount Kōya sub-temple guarding the southwestern gate and famed for its Shigemori rock garden.

A Kamakura-period wooden Tamonten at Henjoko-in on Mount Koya, an armored guardian of the north holding a pagoda and halberd above a subdued demon underfoot.

Six of the eight wooden youths attending Fudō Myōō on Mount Kōya are National Treasures attributed to Unkei, prized for their crystal eyes and individual faces.

A Kamakura-period statue of Fudō Myōō on Mount Kōya, the 'United Fudō,' owned by Kongōbu-ji and made an Important Cultural Property in 1925, now at the Reihōkan.

A portrait sculpture of Hotto Kokushi, founder of Kokokuji in Yura, dated 1286. A realistic Kamakura chinso kept as a temple treasure, not on permanent view.

A Kamakura sea-crossing Monju group at Henmyoin on Mount Koya: the lion-mounted bodhisattva with four attendants. Held by the Reihokan, shown in rotating displays.

A Kamakura standing Jikokuten at Henjokoin on Mount Koya, guardian of the east, an armoured warrior on a demon. Held by the Reihokan, shown in rotating displays.

Five seated Buddhas have sat inside Kōyasan's oldest building since 1223. Discover the Kamakura sculpture, the nun-shogun who raised the tower, and when it opens.