Kakebotoke are circular or square-shaped metal plaques with images of kami, or Shinto deities, and Buddhas affixed to them. They are hung within shrine buildings and temple halls. This one has the deities of the San’nōsha Shrine on Mount Hiei in Shiga. An engraving on the back tells us that this kakebotoke is associated with a shrine or temple in Asodani, present-day Kumamoto prefecture.
MIMOTO ShusakuEnglish by Mary Lewine
Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, p.336, no.171.
This rimmed bronze disk has two ornamental fittings and rings attached to it. Images of the Shinto deities, who are enshrined in ten sanctuaries of Sannō shrine in Shiga prefecture are depicted on bronze plates by hammering them into the plates from the back and riveting them to the disk. This is the original set of images of which the Mandala of Sannō shrine is comprised. Rivets are visible on the back of the disk, and the name of each deity, whose image is attached with that rivet, is written next to each rivet in line carving; the names are "Ōmiya", "Hachiōji", "Shōjinshi", "Ninomiya", "Gyō-ji", "Sannomiya", "Kyakumiya", "Jūzenji", "Hayao", and "Ushimiko". According to the inscription rendered by needle-line carving at the center of the backside, this mirror was made in 1218 by Taira-no-Kagetoshi. The name of the ten principal deities of Sannō shrine were documented by this disk. Considering of the date of production, this disk is one of the most noteworthy objects of Hie Sannō shrine.
Masterpieces of Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1993, p.124, no.98.

