JTA’s Project for Promoting Multilingual Support
for Visitors to Zuiganji : English Texts
観光庁による瑞巌寺多言語化整備事業解説文

“JTA’s Project for Promoting Multilingual Support for Visitors to Zuiganji: English Texts” has been prepared in accordance with the Project for Promoting Multilingual Support for Sightseeing Destinations around Japan, which was launched by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) in 2018 with the aim of improving the satisfaction of foreign visitors to Japan.

This project is to address problems posed by foreign visitors to many parts of Japan expressing or experiencing dissatisfaction and inconveniences due to a flood of misrepresentation in non-Japanese text of tourist information appearing in an unregulated manner. To this end, JTA cooperates with other related government agencies to build a system for providing tourist-friendly, accurate and attractive descriptions of various destinations in a number of different languages, principally by creating a database of relevant specialists to dispatch to respond to requests for support with text preparation.

For preparing English descriptions, a specialist team including native English writers will be sent to local destinations to assist with wiring and editing texts with a particular emphasis on the perspectives of native language users.

Zuiganji Temple

Zuiganji Temple was rebuilt in 1609 by Date Masamune (1567–1636), the founder of the city of Sendai and the first ruler of the powerful Sendai domain (which encompassed today’s Miyagi Prefecture).

The site was the location of a temple belonging to the Tendai sect of Esoteric Buddhism built in 828; the temp le was converted into a Zen temple during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), but later fell into a long period of decline. In the seventeenth century, Masamune decided to have it rebuilt to serve as the Date family’s temple, as well as a posthumous memorial to ensure his ascension to the Buddhist paradise.

The approach to the temple is lined with slabs of local slate, which have a mirror like sheen when wet. The path also goes past meditation caves in the rock faces surrounding the temple; the oldest caves d ate to the Kamakura period.

Zuiganji Temple has three entrance gates. The Onarimon Gate is used only by emperors, and was last opened for Emperor Meiji (1852–1912). The Chumon Gate was reserved for lords and ritual processions, although visitors are now a llowed to walk through it into the temple courtyard, where they can admire two 400 year old plum trees brought back from Choson (modern day Korea) by Masamune. The Toryumon Gate was once used by commoners.

Visitors pass through the kuri , a massive kitchen building with a distinctive large wooden roofed chimney, to enter the hondo main hall.

The exterior of the temple’s main hall and kitchen building are striking for their white walls, and dark wood beams beneath sloping slate roofs. These features give the temple a clean, minimalist appearance inspired by the style of Zen temples, albeit on a massive scale. Masamune is said to have laid out the boundaries of the temple’s foundations himself.

In contrast to the simple exterior, the interior of Zuiganji Tem ple’s main hall is decorated with colorful screen paintings, elaborate coffered ceilings, and detailed wood carvings, which display the Date family’s taste, power, and wealth. This contrast between the interior and exterior is a trademark of the Date style . Another hallmark is the display of wealth through easily overlooked details, such as the choice to cover the expansive roofs wealth through easily overlooked details, such as the choice to cover the expansive roofs in tile, a massive expense in a region so often hit by storms and typhoons.in tile, a massive expense in a region so often hit by storms and typhoons. Despite being a temple, Zuiganji’s interior layout mDespite being a temple, Zuiganji’s interior layout more closely resembles that of a castle. ore closely resembles that of a castle. The artwork of the rooms thus becomes progressively more elaborate the closer they are The artwork of the rooms thus becomes progressively more elaborate the closer they are to the inner sanctum. The Matsu no Ma (“Pine Room”), where tea servers waited to bring to the inner sanctum. The Matsu no Ma (“Pine Room”), where tea servers waited to bring refreshments to lords and visitors, is decrefreshments to lords and visitors, is decorated with relatively simple paintings of roosters orated with relatively simple paintings of roosters and doves; but in the and doves; but in the Bun’o no MaBun’o no Ma, reserved for Masamune and his closest advisors, an , reserved for Masamune and his closest advisors, an exquisitely detailed painting of a legendary Chinese utopia covers the walls. On a raised exquisitely detailed painting of a legendary Chinese utopia covers the walls. On a raised dais to the rear of this dais to the rear of this room is the Jojodan no Ma (“Highest Room”), which was reserved room is the Jojodan no Ma (“Highest Room”), which was reserved for the use of the emperor.for the use of the emperor.

The detailed wood carvings of Zuiganji Temple were created by craftspeople brought all The detailed wood carvings of Zuiganji Temple were created by craftspeople brought all the way from Kyoto. Under the eaves, there are delicate depictions of grapes,the way from Kyoto. Under the eaves, there are delicate depictions of grapes, while inside while inside the Onari entrance hall, there is an intriguing carving of a rather skinny rhinoceros.the Onari entrance hall, there is an intriguing carving of a rather skinny rhinoceros.

For centuries, Zuiganji has played a central role in Matsushima’s economy and culture, and at its peak in the Edo period (and at its peak in the Edo period (1603–1867), thousands of monks 1867), thousands of monks and workers and workers attended to the needs of flocks of pilgrims visiting the templeattended to the needs of flocks of pilgrims visiting the temple.

The temple grounds have shrunk since the Edo period, but Zuiganji is still at the heart of the community. During the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami, resresidents fled to the temple for safety. While the waters destroyed the approach to the idents fled to the temple for safety. While the waters destroyed the approach to the temple and killed the huge centuriestemple and killed the huge centuries--old cryptomeria trees that once lined the way, the old cryptomeria trees that once lined the way, the temple’s main buildings were spared, and Zuiganji provided refuge for the residentstemple’s main buildings were spared, and Zuiganji provided refuge for the residents of of Matsushima. Matsushima.

The hondohondo main hall, Onari entrance hall, and main hall, Onari entrance hall, and kurikuri kitchen are all designated National kitchen are all designated National Treasures. The Onarimon Gate, the plaster Treasures. The Onarimon Gate, the plaster taikobeitaikobei walls on either side of that gate, and walls on either side of that gate, and the Chumon Gate are designated Important Cultural Properties.the Chumon Gate are designated Important Cultural Properties.

List of Multilingual Texts

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No.1 Zuiganji Temple Overview

“A massive temple with seven stately halls embellished with gold.” That is how the haiku master Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) described Zuiganji in his 1689 travel diary and poetry collection Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Deep North).

There has been a temple here since the ninth century when the priest Ennin (794–864) established a base for the Tendai school of esoteric Buddhism in Matsushima. Four centuries later, the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, then a new religion in Japan, built a temple here that gradually supplanted and absorbed the Tendai institution. Zuiganji is still a Rinzai temple today.

The current temple complex was commissioned in 1604 by Date Masamune (1567–1636), the powerful feudal lord whose clan governed much of northern Japan during the Edo period (1603–1867). The main structures took five years to complete. Masamune’s Zuiganji, which served as the Date family’s private temple, incorporates features common to other Zen temples but breaks with the sect’s aesthetic austerity. Its lavish decorative elements-dark wood beams shipped from Wakayama Prefecture, elaborately carved transoms, colorful paintings on the gold leaf noted by Basho-are typical of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600). The last decades of the sixteenth century marked the end of over a hundred years of civil war and ushered in a huge social transformation. During this period the arts flourished, and the first Europeans visited Japan.

Zuiganji’s main hall and kitchen building (kuri) are designated as National Treasures.

The wide pathway leading to the main hall is lined with cedar trees. Many of the trees were damaged by seawater during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and had to be cut down. Zuiganji was otherwise spared from the effects of the disaster thanks to its traditional earthquake-resistant construction and the protection afforded by the many islands of Matsushima Bay. A second approach to the main hall winds past ancient caves carved out by the ocean and further expanded by generations of visitors. These caves were used for Buddhist ceremonies even before the temple’s construction. Today, they contain statues and Buddhist name tablets left by visitors to honor deceased relatives.

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No.2 Shitchu Ceremony Hall

This room is the spiritual heart of Zuiganji Temple and houses the mortuary tablets of the Date clan. Buddhist rituals are held here, including memorial services for the Date lords. The importance of this room can be seen in the height of its coffered ceiling. The room is also known as the Kujaku no Ma, or Peacock Room, after the magnificent peacocks painted on the doors. The four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter are depicted running counterclockwise from the entrance on the right. The banners hanging from the ceiling represent the Four Heavenly Kings, deities who guard the cardinal directions. On the transoms over the sliding doors are carvings of musical half-bird, half-human creatures called Karyobinga. These landscapes and creatures represent Jodo, the realm of enlightenment also known as the Pure Land.

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No.3 Altar Room

Memorial services to pray for the repose of members of the Date clan are held in this room. The altar holds the mortuary tablets of Date Masamune (1567–1636) and eleven of the Date lords who succeeded him. The central bronze statue is Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy and compassion, and dates from the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The three wooden statues to the left commemorate monks who played significant roles in the history of Zuiganji. The room was originally smaller, but it was extended seventeen years after Masamune’s death to include a recessed alcove. The alcove was added to house a wooden statue of Masamune seated in armor that is now on display in the Seiryuden Temple Museum.

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No.4 Bun-O no Ma Room

This room was reserved for the relatives of the Date lord. The delicate ceiling work and the classical design of the fusuma door paintings by Hasegawa Toin (dates unknown) lend the space a palatial grandeur. The clouds in the paintings have delicate raised patterns created by adding artist’s chalk made from crushed seashells before painting the images.

The fusuma depict a scene from the Chinese classics in which King Wen of Zhou (1152–1056 BCE) meets a seemingly ordinary fisherman named Jiang Ziya. King Wen was so impressed by Jiang Ziya’s benevolent world view that he made Ziya his military adviser. This decision is said to have been the basis for the success of the Zhou dynasty. The Chinese classics present King Wen as a model sovereign, and this scene is a fitting motif for a room used by the ruling Date clan. The room takes its name from the Japanese reading of the name of the Chinese King Wen, which is “Bun-O.”

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No.5 Jodan no Ma, Upper Room

This room was used exclusively by the lords of the Date clan, and the floor is elevated to reflect their status. The gilded metal fittings, created by an artisan from Kyoto, are carved with intricate floral patterns to stress the importance of the room. The shape of the alcove doorway resembles a keyhole, a design that was more commonly used for exterior windows. The contents of the wall paintings by Hasegawa Toin (dates unknown) portray the ideal qualities of a ruler: plums for integrity, bamboo for refinement, and peonies for nobility. The flowering trees depict the four seasons.

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No.6 Jojodan no Ma, Imperial Presence Chamber

This room at Zuiganji is reserved for the emperor and members of the Imperial family. The room’s floor is higher than any other room in the main hall in recognition of the emperor’s superior status. This room was unused from the time of its construction in 1609 until Emperor Meiji spent a night at the temple in 1876. The hand-woven tatami mats are of the highest quality workmanship and are thicker and softer than any others in the building. The red and white camellias painted on the shelves represent long life and enduring prosperity.

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No.7 Rakan no Ma Room

Originally a storeroom, this room was converted into a space to honor the twenty samurai who followed Date Masamune (1567–1636) into death, and another sixteen who killed themselves on the death of Masamune’s son Tadamune (1600–1658). The practice of showing loyalty by committing suicide on the death of one’s lord is called junshi and was outlawed by the shogunate in 1663. The wall paintings are from 1878 and depict the sixteen rakan (Sanskrit: arhat), the disciples of Buddha who attained nirvana and are revered in Zen Buddhism.

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No.8 Sumie no Ma, Ink-Painting Room

The head monk of Zuiganji Temple used this room when receiving guests. The ink paintings were completed in 1622 and are the only paintings in the main hall that have not been replaced with replicas. Small amounts of red ochre were mixed with the ink, giving the paintings a distinctive hue. Traces of the artist Kibi Koeki’s (dates unknown) name seal remain on the paintings. Monochrome ink paintings are a hallmark of Zen art, and compared to the other rooms elsewhere in the building the Sumie no Ma is perhaps more typical of a Zen temple.

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No.9 Kiku no Ma, Chrysanthemum Room

The lords of the Date clan traveled with their personal physicians and samurai guards. When they visited Zuiganji, the doctors would wait in this room. The wall paintings by the artist Sakuma Sakyo (1581–1658) depict white, yellow, and pink chrysanthemums in bloom. Chrysanthemums were originally brought to Japan from China as a medicinal plant and are thus an appropriate motif for a room reserved for the lord’s physicians.

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No.10 Matsu no Ma, Pine Room

The design of the ceiling was an important indication of the status of the people who used the room. The plainly crafted ceilings in this room reflect the relatively low status of the tea ceremony masters who waited here. Magpies, ducks, wood pigeons, and sparrows are painted on the walls among pine and cherry trees. These paintings are modern reproductions of paintings done by a disciple of Sakuma Sakyo (1581–1658) named Ichimon (dates unknown). The originals have been moved to the Seiryuden Temple Museum.

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No.11 Taka no Ma, Hawk Room

This room was reserved for high-ranking samurai retainers of the Date family. The paintings depict hawks hunting egrets, pheasants, and quail. The image of the hawk was popular among samurai and here symbolizes the courage of the Date warriors. Japanese oak trees, which fill the scene along with cypress and cedar, represent endurance and the preservation of family lines from generation to generation. These are reproductions of paintings done by a disciple of Sakuma Sakyo (1581–1658) named Kurota (dates unknown). The originals have been moved to the Seiryuden Temple Museum.

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No.12 Onari Genkan, Entrance for Dignitaries

This entrance was reserved for the heads of the Date clan and members of the Imperial family. The word onari referred to a visit by a high-ranking noble, an event so important that special entrances were built to receive the honored guest. Many of the architectural elements of this entrance, including the carved elephant heads and the cylindrical columns with pinched necks and bulbous bases, were inspired by the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907). The angled arrangement of the granite flagstones is typical of Zen temples, as is the zig-zag layout of the hall that hides visitors from view as they enter the building. The entrance is minimally decorated with gold leaf and carved transoms to evoke serenity and purity. The squirrel among grapes motif-like the carving over the main door-was a symbol of prosperity during the Edo period (1603–1867).

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No.13 Karato, Chinese-Style Doors

Adorned with carvings of clouds, peonies, chrysanthemums, and birds, these Chinese-style folding doors (karato) lead to the ceremony hall. As the next room represents the realm of enlightenment known as the Pure Land, these doors are figuratively the doors to paradise.

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No.14 Ranma, Transom Carvings

The transoms (ranma) above the doors were carved by Osakabe Saemon Kunitsugu (dates unknown), a renowned artisan from Negoro (in present-day Wakayama Prefecture). His assistants did portions of the work, and the carvings become more refined toward the southwestern end of the hallway, which was used by the Date lords and their families. The names of the artists were found written on a doorframe in black ink during an extensive restoration of the building that began in 2008. Based on evidence found during the renovation, researchers now believe that color was added to the carvings after the temple’s completion.

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No.15 Wooden Door Paintings

In Zen art, dragons and tigers often represent Buddhist practitioners who have attained nirvana. Originally there were three painted wooden doors on the north, south, and east sides of the main temple building made between 1620 and 1623 by the artists Sakuma Shuri (1581–1658) and Hasegawa Toin (dates unknown). This door is a reproduction of one of those doors and was created in 1997.

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No.16 Kuri, Temple Kitchen

The living quarters of a Zen temple, called a kuri in Japanese, contain the kitchen, the monks’ rooms, and the reception and sleeping areas for guests. Having been commissioned by a wealthy feudal lord, Zuiganji’s kuri is grander and more ornate than that of other seventeenth-century temples, with decorative carvings under the gables and other ornate features. The open atrium allows smoke from cooking fires to escape and exposes the structure’s columns and beams, which are fitted together without nails. This traditional Japanese construction is both strong and flexible, allowing the building to absorb the vibrations of earthquakes. The Zuiganji kuri was designated a National Treasure in 1959.

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No.17 Corridor and Monks’ Entrance

This corridor connects the kuri to the main hall. The entrance on the southeastern side is used by monks when they are called to prayer by the hanging bronze bell.

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No.18 Gates for Dignitaries and Drum Wall

The two gates in this area were reserved for high-ranking visitors. Lords of the Date domain and members of the Imperial family used the grander Onarimon, while their samurai attendants entered through the less imposing Chumon. The difference in prestige is expressed in the construction of the gates: the Onarimon has a hip-and-gable tiled roof, while the Chumon has a simpler gable roof and wooden shingles. The Onarimon is supported by two main posts at the front and a pair of smaller posts at the rear, a style known as yakuimon, whereas the Chumon has two main posts under the central roofline supplemented by pairs of smaller posts on each side (shikyakumon).

The wall on the west side of the gate is a drum wall (taikohei). The center of the wall is loosely filled with stone and it makes a low, drum-like sound when the wall is struck.

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No.19 Umoregi Shoin Building

This building is said to have been constructed from the wood of a single tree. The tree, a large Japanese cypress, was recovered from the bottom of the Kitakami river at the turn of the twentieth century. Such “sunken trees” (umoregi) are prized for the naturally rich color of their wood. A wealthy family in Sendai purchased the tree and used it to build this structure in 1908. After being donated to Zuiganji in 1943, the building was dismantled and rebuilt in its current location.

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No.20 Somon, Front Gate

It is unknown exactly when this gabled, tile-roofed gate was completed, but it was likely constructed at the start of the seventeenth century along with Zuiganji Temple’s main buildings. A hexagonal pendant adorns each gable, and double-paneled, stone-filled drum walls (taikohei) extend from the gate’s sides. The name of the walls refers to the drum-like sound they make when struck. The gate has been designated an Important Cultural Property by Miyagi Prefecture.

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No.21 Godaido Temple

Completed in 1604, Godaido was the first temple built in Matsushima by Date Masamune (1567–1636), who created the wealthiest feudal domain in the Tohoku region. The building is a recreation of an older temple built by Ennin (794–864), a monk who brought the teachings of Tendai Buddhism to northern Japan. Before Ennin’s temple, there was a hall built here for the worship of Bishamon, a fierce Buddhist deity known as the Guardian of the North. This hall was built by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811), a general sent by the Imperial Court to defeat the Emishi, an aboriginal group that inhabited Tohoku at the time. When Ennin built Godaido he dedicated it to another group of protective deities, the Five Wisdom Kings (Japanese: Godai Myo-O).

Masamune rebuilt the temple with a square-tented roof, entrance canopy, and railed veranda. The struts under the eaves are carved with the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. Both the temple and the statues inside it are designated Important Cultural Properties. The Buddha statues inside the temple are displayed to the public every thirty-three years.

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No.22 Unpan, Cloud Gong

At Zen temples, meals are announced with the striking of a cloud-shaped bronze gong called an unpan. This gong is a reproduction of an unpan cast in 1326 for Enpukuji Temple, which occupied the site prior to Zuiganji’s construction. It later hung in Zuiganji’s kitchen and living quarters (kuri). The original is designated an Important Cultural Property and is kept in the Seiryuden Temple Museum.

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No.23 Red and White Plum Trees

The plum trees on either side of this path were brought back from the Korean peninsula by the feudal lord Date Masamune (1567–1636), the founder of Zuiganji Temple. Between 1592 and 1598 he participated in two unsuccessful invasions of the peninsula led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598), who in 1590 had unified Japan under his rule after more than a century of civil war. Masamune had the trees planted at Zuiganji to commemorate its construction. When the trees bloom in early April, the blooms on this tree are red, while those on the tree opposite are white. The combination of red and white is auspicious in Japan and is often seen at celebrations.

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No.24 Statue of Date Masamune (1567–1636)

This wooden statue of Masamune was created in 1652, seventeen years after his death. It was originally placed in the altar room of Zuiganji’s main hall and is a Designated Cultural Property of Miyagi Prefecture. The statue is said to depict Masamune at the age of twenty-seven, when he led a contingent of samurai during a military campaign on the Korean peninsula. Masamune lost his right eye to a childhood disease. When he commissioned the statue in his will, Masamune is said to have requested that it show him with two eyes, but the artist has hinted at his true appearance by making the statue’s right eye slightly narrower.

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No.25 Wakizashi Ceremonial Sword

Samurai typically carried two swords, one long and one short. The shorter sword is called a wakizashi, which means “inserted at the side.” The second lord of the Sendai domain, Date Tadamune (1600–1658), had this heavy ceremonial wakizashi made in honor of his father Masamune (1567–1636) on the twentieth anniversary of his death. It was originally bequeathed to Zuihoden, the Date family mausoleum in Sendai, but it was returned to the family during the Meiji period (1868–1912). After World War II, the family donated the sword to Zuiganji. The sword is a Miyagi Prefecture Designated Cultural Property.

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No.26 Temple Bell

Zujiganji Temple’s original bell, dating to the temple’s establishment in the seventeenth century, was used until 1977 when it was replaced because of cracking. The text inscribed on the bell records the history of Matsushima and the founding of Zuiganji by Date Masamune (1567–1636). The bell is a Miyagi Prefecture Designated Cultural Property and is located inside the Seiryuden Temple Museum.

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No.27 Sando Main Approach

Cedar trees line the approach to Zuiganji Temple. A number of the original trees had to be removed or replaced after their roots were damaged by seawater during the Tohoku tsunami in 2011. Signs of an older approach, dating from the temple’s founding in 1609, have been discovered under the current path.

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No.28 Zuiganji Temple Caves

Long ago, the nearby ocean eroded the soft volcanic rock of the hills around Matsushima, creating caves. These caves became a popular place to carve Buddhist memorial markers for deceased relatives. The oldest visible caves date from the seventeenth century, but evidence of grottoes from as early as the twelfth or thirteenth century have been found in lower layers of rock that are now hidden by soil.

In the past, six small independent temples stood on each side of the sando approach to Zuiganji. For a modest donation, a visitor could access the caves behind the temples and leave a carving or a memorial stone.

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No.29 Sanseido Temple

This small temple, built in 1682, originally faced in the opposite direction, with its entrance on the main approach to Zuiganji, but it was rotated in the eighteenth century. Buddhist customs forbade women from entering parts of the temple grounds on certain days, but the Sanseido became popular with female worshippers who came to pray to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion and mercy. Zuiganji’s abbot ordered Sanseido turned so that women could visit from a different route without violating Buddhist customs.

Sanseido is dedicated to Daruma, the fifth or sixth century Buddhist monk credited with bringing Zen teachings from India to China, to Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), a ninth-century Japanese scholar and poet, and to Kannon.

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No.30 Hondo, Main Hall

Completed in 1609, the main hall was built in the layout of a hojo. Hojo were originally used as living quarters for monks, but by the 1600s the hojo and its design were used for the main halls of Zen temples. The main hall of Zuiganji is a masterpiece of the lavish architectural style of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600). Date Masamune (1567–1636), the feudal lord who commissioned Zuiganji, turned to the established artisanal centers of Kyoto and Wakayama in western Japan to realize his vision for the temple. He imported both the materials for the hall-mostly Japanese cypress and zelkova wood-and 130 master craftsmen who oversaw its five-year construction. The hall was designated a National Treasure in 1953.

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No.31 Oshima Island

According to tradition, the monk Kenbutsu Shonin (dates unknown) took up residence on Oshima Island in 1104 and spent at least twelve years here in solitary Buddhist practice. Among other feats, he is said to have recited the Lotus Sutra 60,000 times and gained the powers of levitation and teleportation. People are drawn to the island and its caves by the legend of Kenbutsu as well as the beauty of the island which is said to resemble the Pure Land, or Buddhist paradise. People began erecting gravestones and carving memorial tablets on Oshima in the twelfth century.

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No.32 Matsushima Sekkoku (Dendrobium moniliforme)

Sekkoku is a species of wild orchid (Dendrobium moniliforme) native to Northeast Asia, the Himalayas, and northern Indochina. The flowers were abundant in Matsushima until over-harvesting for use in perfume and other goods nearly wiped them out. Difficult to cultivate, sekkoku have only recently begun to make a comeback in the area thanks to advances in plant-breeding technology. Wild specimens, such as the flowers high in the branches of this cedar tree, remain rare. Sekkoku bloom in late May or early June.

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No.33 Mausoleum of Yotokuin

Date Tsunamune (1640–1710) built this ornate mausoleum in 1660 for his grandmother Megohime (1568–1653), the wife of Date Masamune (1567–1636), feudal lord of the Sendai domain and founder of Zuiganji. Yotokuin is the Buddhist name posthumously given to Megohime. Although her husband’s grave is in Sendai, according to one local story, Megohime requested that her remains be buried near the holy sites of Matsushima so that she might more quickly reach paradise and reunite with Masamune.

The mausoleum is coated in black lacquer which contrasts beautifully with its gold fittings and polychrome painted details. Grapes-like the ones depicted on the door-were commonly associated with women at the time when the mausoleum was built. The structure was restored over a three-year period beginning in 2006.