Honenshoninzo

A statue of Honen Shoshin preserved by the Fudankoin Temple, bodaiji (a temple that takes care of the family over generations) for the Shimosaka family. The Shimosaka family was a local influential family in medieval Japan who lived in the Shimosaka Residence (Shimosakanakacho, Nagahama City). The family also served the sengoku warlord Azai clan. Honen was the founder of the Pure Land school of Buddhism. A Kamakura period priest, he preached that it was important to recite the Nembutsu in order to go to the Amitabha’s Pure Land after death. The Fudankoin Temple was originally a Tendai school temple that was converted to the Pure Land school. This precious work may have been in the temple’s possession from the time it was first converted.