Heian period, 9th century

This is the earliest extant pair of the Diamond World and Womb World mandalas, together forming the Mandalas of the Two Worlds known as the Takao Mandara. The pair has been passed down through the generations at Jingoji Temple at Mount Takao and is the only extant such set that was produced during the lifetime of Kūkai (774–835). Conservation of these paintings was completed in 2022, restoring the former brilliance of the gold and silver paint expressing their realms of deities.

Heian period, 9th century

This is the earliest extant pair of the Diamond World and Womb World mandalas, together forming the Mandalas of the Two Worlds known as the Takao Mandara. The pair has been passed down through the generations at Jingoji Temple at Mount Takao and is the only extant such set that was produced during the lifetime of Kūkai (774–835). Conservation of these paintings was completed in 2022, restoring the former brilliance of the gold and silver paint expressing their realms of deities.

Heian period, 9th century

It is said that the temple Anshōji was established in Kashō 1 (848) by Kūkai’s (774–835) lineage descendent in the second-generation, the monk Eun (798–869). These statues are thought to have been completed soon after, making them the earliest extant complete set of this iconography expressed in sculpture. Their robust forms in a nearly human scale create a naturalistic impression.

China, Tang dynasty, 8th century

This statue was discovered at the site of Anguosi Temple, which had been a grand institution in the Tang-dynasty capital of Chang’an. This and other sculptural traces discovered in excavating the Anguosi site eloquently evoke the flourishing of esoteric Buddhism at the Tang capital. It is understood to have been an icon of Wenshu (Skt. Mañjuśrī), but its attire and the attributes it holds are similar to those of the bodhisattva Kongōharamitsu (Skt. Vajrapāramitā) of the Womb World iconography.

China, Tang dynasty, 7th–8th century

This is known as the pillow-shaped honzon, or principal icon. It opens to reveal three surfaces of assembled Buddhist deities, and when its doors close, it takes the form of a Buddhist stupa. The various deities are in the style developed in Tang-dynasty China to evoke works from India, suggesting its date and region of production. It is possible, however, that this was copied elsewhere from an earlier model. The portable shrine is believed to have been presented to Kūkai (774–835) by his teacher, the master Huiguo (746–805).

Nanbokuchō period, Kō’ō 1 (1389)

This illustrated biography in twelve scrolls was completed for the 600th anniversary of Kūkai’s birth. It depicts several important episodes from his life found as well in earlier illustrated biographies, but additional scenes related to Tōji Temple are unique to this work. The third scroll offers a vivid rendition of Kūkai’s arduous journey to China and his first meeting with Huiguo, the master who would become his teacher.

China, Tang dynasty, 9th century

This is the finial from a priest’s staff that Kūkai brought back from China. Such staffs were originally used during mountain pilgrimages, but they came to be incorporated into Buddhist ceremonies to add clanging sounds regarded as exotic to Japanese ritual. Note the masterful refinements of cast bronze technique reflected in the ornate expression of their Amida triads and flanking heavenly beings. The detailed depiction of the central Amida figure is not only poignant for its beauty, but also for its resemblance to contemporaneous bronze Buddhist sculpture from its precise style period.

China, Tang dynasty, 9th century

These are ritual implements used in the grandest of the major ceremonies in the Shingon tradition, the Goshichinichi Mishiho. The five-pronged vajra pestle and the five-pronged vajra bell, both of which please the Buddhist deities who can grind evil into dust, are arranged on an adamantine tray for the performance of the ceremony. Kūkai (774–835) brought these profoundly important implements back from Tang-dynasty China. They are listed in the Kōbōdaishi Shōrai Mokuroku, the record of the objects, texts, and images he transmitted to Japan.

Heian period, 9th century

This is the earliest extant set of polychrome mandalas of the Womb World and the Diamond World brought together as a pair. They come from the Shingon’in within the Imperial Palace where they were used in the Goshichinichi Mishiho ritual and were, for many years, enshrined at the Saiin of Tōji Temple. Their depictions in vivid colors of deities expressed in a refined mode evoking the Heian-period imaginaire of distant lands draw one into their vibrant realms.

Heian period, 9th century

This is the earliest extant set of polychrome mandalas of the Womb World and the Diamond World brought together as a pair. They come from the Shingon’in within the Imperial Palace where they were used in the Goshichinichi Mishiho ritual and were, for many years, enshrined at the Saiin of Tōji Temple. Their depictions in vivid colors of deities expressed in a refined mode evoking the Heian-period imaginaire of distant lands draw one into their vibrant realms.

Heian period, 8th–9th century

This is a work that Kūkai (774–835) wrote when he was twenty-four, prior to his ordaining as a Buddhist monk. It represents the traditions of Confucianism, Daosim, and Buddhism through fictional characters speaking on their behalf so that each tradition can be easily compared. Kūkai then assumes an authorial voice to declare Buddhism the superior tradition. This work shows us how Kūkai arrived at Buddhism and its path having first explored other philosophical and religious traditions.

Heian period, Kōnin 3–4 (812–813)

This is a register of the names of those who received ordinations (Skt. abhiṣeka) into the Diamond World and Womb World at Takaosanji Temple starting in 813 (Kōnin 3) and into the next year. It is in the hand of Kūkai (774–835) himself. Saichō (766–822), who transmitted Tendai Buddhism to Japan, had requested that these rites be performed; his name appears at the top of the register.

Heian period, 9th century

This work by Kūkai on the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, which emphasizes the wisdom of renouncing attachments, explicates the more obscure meanings of the scripture’s teachings from the perspective of mikkyō Buddhism. Glimpses of Kūkai’s efforts to revise the text are seen in his corrections added in the margins of one section between his lines of light cursive brush traces.

Heian period, 12th century

By legend, the bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Avalokiteśvara) manifested on Kūkai’s ship to calm the stormy seas as he made his return from Tang-dynasty China. This painting is understood to be a depiction of that divine emanation, yet the unusual figure is rather a different deity who protects practitioners of mikkyō rites. The painting likely came to be associated with the episode of Kannon’s protection as Kūkai faith swelled.

Kamakura period, ca. Shōji 2 (1200)

Kujaku Myōō is worshipped as a protector from all kinds of disasters, in part because the Wisdom King takes the form of a peacock, and peacocks are known to eat poisonous snakes. This statue is the principal icon (honzon) of the Kujakudō at Mount Kōya established at the behest of Emperor Go-Toba (1180–1239; r. 1183–1198). The style of the master Buddhist sculptor Kaikei (d. before 1227) is reflected in the icon’s august features, the graceful arrangement of its four arms, and the orderly folds of the robe.