Embroidered icons like this one are thought to have been hung up during memorial services for the departed and in the final moments before death. The snail-shell curls (rahotsu) of the Buddhas, the borders of the surplices (kesa) they wear, the seed syllables (Skt. bīja; J. shuji) in discs framing the central composition, and the sutra passages in the upper left and right corners incorporate human hair in their embroidery. Perhaps it is the hair of the person memorialized in the rites for which this work served as the principal object of worship. Shaka (facing the icon, on the right) meets the departed in this world, and they are then welcomed to the Pure Land by Amida.
 
NAITO SakaeEnglish by Mary Lewine 
Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, p.337, no.154.