Prince Shōtoku (Shōtoku Taishi, 574-622) is well known as the founder of Buddhism in Japan. After his death, the veneration of Prince Shōtoku flourished mainly in Shiten’nō-ji and Hōryū-ji Temples in Nara and had widely permeated and influenced Japanese Buddhism. Among the new Buddhist sects established during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), called Kamakura Buddhism, founders such as Hōnen (1133-1212, Jōdoshū), Shinran (1173-1262, Jōdo Shinshū) and Ippen (1239-1289, Jishū) are known for having a great veneration in Prince Shōtoku. Since the middle of the Kamakura period, numbers of statues reflecting the beliefs and legends of Shōtoku Taishi have been created, such as Prince Shōtoku at Age Two (Namu Butsu Taishi) and Prince Shōtoku at Age Sixteen (Kōyō Taishi). The center of the movement of worshippers was located at Saidai-ji Temple in Nara, lead by Eison (1201-1290) and his disciple Ninshō (1217-1303) of Shingon Risshū sect, who both served as the chief priest (bettō) of Shiten’nō-ji Temple and participated in the reconstruction of numerous temples related to Prince Shōtoku Faith, including Hōryū-ji Temple. Most of the sculptural manifestations of the veneration of Prince Shōtoku remaining today are presumed to be under the influence of Shingon Risshū sect.
On the other hand, Jōdo-ji Temple in Onomichi, Hiroshima, today one of the nationwide known Shingonshū temples, used to belong to Shingon Risshū and, at its core, its worship still remains of the Prince Shōtoku Faith. The principal image of the temple is a copy of the eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara (jūichimen kan’non) of Hase-dera Temple in Nara, which is attributed to Prince Shōtoku himself, and three statues of the sacred prince in various forms made from the late Kamakura period to Nanbokuchō period (1336-1392) are also enshrined.
In this exhibition, the world of Prince Shōtoku worship emerges by exploring the relics of the faith preserved by Kamakura Buddhism, especially Shingon Risshū, along with the related articles of the Buddhist Documents of Shōmyō-ji (Shōmyō-ji Shōgyō; designated as National Treasure). Thanks to the full cooperation of Jōdo-ji Temple, the exhibition also gathers the Buddhist statues, paintings and documents referring to the middle period of Shingon Risshū, which had been practiced in the temple as a center of the veneration of Prince Shōtoku.