■Stone Tablet 7

This tablet is small in size and shows a Sanskrit letter representing Amida alone. The triangle head remains in almost perfect shape, and its two horizontal carved lines are clear. The forehead has no major chips. The Sanskrit letter is engraved in yagen-bori and good-shaped. The lotus pedestal is also carved well in good form and looks beautiful. Carved below the lotus pedestal are six kanji characters meaning "Nun Honjo - Performance of a Buddhist service in advance to pray for the repose of my soul." A pious woman called Nun Honjo must have held a Buddhist service for her before her death and dedicated this tablet. The inscription of date reads "Thirteenth year of Eikyo" (1441) on the right and "February 23" on the left. It is a pity for the basal part to have been chipped at its lower right edge. February 23, 1441, was in the reign of Emperor Go-Hanazono and under the government of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.

■Stone Tablet 8

This is a dual tablet, which is very rare in this ward (Adachi-ku, Tokyo). It must be the largest tablet in this ward, measuring 66 centimeters or 2.17 feet high and 104 centimeters or 3.4 feet across. Its upper center is chipped in the form of a concave, and the tops of both ends are rounded and slightly protruding. The right edge is somewhat uneven, while the left edge is comparatively smooth, although its central part protrudes. The lower part is rounded and unfortunately chipped off below the Sanskrit letter. The tablet, if not chipped off, would be a wonderful piece indeed. The frame lines are neatly carved from the top down on both ends in a width of one centimeter or 0.4 inch. The length from the center line to the right and left frame lines is 41 centimeters or 1.35 feet respectively. Five buddhas in esoteric Buddhism appear to be represented by Sanskrit letters at the forehead of the right tablet, and below each letter there is a lotus pedestal with 10 petals. The five "seed-letters" are, from the right, kam representing Fudo Myoo (Acala or the Spirit of Fire), bah representing the Buddha Shakamuni, and mam representing Manjusri (bodhisattva of wisdom and intellect). Only the lower half of the fourth letter remains, and it is difficult to read the letter. But its lotus pedestal is clearly recognizable. The fifth letter, i.e., the extreme left, cannot be read either with only its lotus pedestal recognizable. A canopy called tengai is carved below the center of the five lotus pedestals. It measures 30 centimeters or one foot long and about eight centimeters or 3.15 inches high. It is carved very well in yagen-bori. Below the canopy, Sanskrit letter bah representing the Buddha Shakamuni is engraved in yagen-bori. Its overall length is as long as 22 centimeters or 8.7 inches, and its width 20 centimeters or 7.9 inches. The letter is on a lotus pedestal, where what is considered to be an ovary is recognizable. It is regretted that the entire view of the lotus pedestal cannot be seen now. From the right and left ends of the canopy extends a string of precious stones and metal pieces respectively. Its length is 24 centimeters or 9.45 inches, and its width about three centimeters or 1.2 inches. At the top of each sting is an isosceles triangle with the base being four centimeters or 1.57 inches long and the height one centimeter or 0.39 inch. Below this triangle, beads with a diameter of about 0.5 centimeter or 0.197 inch are arranged at an interval of 1.5 centimeters or 0.59 inch in three rows in 15 levels of height. On the fifteenth level, a triangle is carved respectively on both sides with a bead in-between. Below this bead in the center, there is another isosceles triangle with the base measuring 1.5 centimeters or 0.59 inch long and the height one centimeter or 0.39 inch. Thus each string consists of four triangles and 33 beads with a diameter of about 0.5 centimeter or 0.197 inch. Their layout is exceedingly orderly with regular spaces left between the beads, which attests to the whole-hearted devotion of the carver. The strings on both right and left tablets are just the same as each other. The Sanskrit letter on the left tablet is worn out and no longer visible. On the left tablet, just as on the right, what are considered to be five lotus petals are recognizable at the place of the first letter from the left, one lotus petal at the place of the second letter, and one lotus petal above the canopy in the center. From all these designs it can be inferred that each tablet was originally dedicated to five buddhas, that is, the dual tablet as a whole was dedicated to a total of ten buddhas. As on the right tablet, a canopy is carved at the place that is considered to be below the center of the lotus pedestals on the left tablet. The canopy is just the same in size and other aspects as the one on the right tablet. The "seed-letter" hrih representing Amida is carved in yagen-bori in an excellent way below the canopy. Its maximum length is 30 centimeters or one foot, its width 1.5 centimeters or 0.59 inch, and its height 1.2 centimeters or 0.47 inch. The workmanship of yagen-bori carving is really wonderful. The strings of precious stones and metal pieces on the left tablet are also carved just as the ones on the right, extending from the right and left ends of the canopy. If this tablet remained in perfect shape, it would no doubt be an exceedingly wonderful piece. It is indeed a pity for the lower part to have been chipped off. This tablet is considered to have been dedicated to ten buddhas as stated earlier, but it can also be inferred that it was dedicated to 13 buddhas with two more buddhas, the Buddha Shakamuni and Amida Tathagata, in addition to the 11 buddhas at the upper part of the tablet. Since the inscription of date is missing, it is impossible to determine the number of buddhas represented thereon. Anyway, this is a rare precious tablet in this ward (Adachi-ku, Tokyo).

■Stone Tablet 9

This is a dual tablet particular to the district of Musashi (mainly Tokyo and Saitama Pref.) and 96 centimeters or 3.15 feet high and 67 centimeters or 2.2 feet long. It is divided into the right and left parts by the carved center line. Both right and left tablets measure 28 centimeters or 11 inches across. Thin frame lines are carved. The tablet is chipped at the upper left edge, but it is considered to remain in nearly original shape as a whole. A canopy is carved at the top of the right tablet. Its length between the right and left ends is about 23 centimeters or nine inches, and its width (height) is eight centimeters or 3.15 inches. A string of precious stones and metal pieces is carved on the right side. Its uppermost piece is like a bead on an abacus, and below this piece, small beads are arranged in three rows in 11 levels of height. The space between neighboring two levels is about one centimeter or 0.4 inch, and the space between neighboring two rows is also one centimeter or 0.4 inch. The piece at the bottom is like a bead on an abacus just the uppermost one and is 1.5 centimeters or 0.59 inch across and 1.5 centimeters or 0.59 inch high. A string of precious stones and metal pieces is also carved downward from each of the right and left ends of the canopy. The length of each string is 14 centimeters or 5.5 inches, and the width about two centimeters or 0.79 inch. On the 11th level, a triangle is carved on both sides with a small bead in-between. Three more short strings are carved at the center of the canopy. Each of these short strings consists of three small beads and one abacus-counter-like bead. The space between neighboring two beads is one centimeter or 0.39 inch, and the space between the last small bead and the abacus-counter-like bead is also one centimeter or 0.39 inch. These short strings are all about five centimeters or two inches long. The space between neighboring two short strings is about three centimeters or 1.2 inches. From about one centimeter (0.59 inch) below the center of these short strings downward, seven kanji characters "na-mu-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo," which are the most important prayer (called daimoku) of the Nichiren sect meaning "Homage to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma," are engraved in a vertical line of 42 centimeters or 1.38 feet. Their engraving is really of beautiful workmanship. With this prayer in the center, six kanji characters "na-mu-ta-ho-nyo-rai" meaning "Homage to the Buddha Taho (Sk. Prabhutaratna Tathagata)" are carved on the right in a vertical line of 23 centimeters or 9.06 inches. Also on the left, seven kanji characters "na-mu-sha-ka-mu-ni-butsu" meaning "Homage to the Buddha Shakamuni" are carved in a vertical line of 23 centimeters or 9.06 inches. These characters are also carved very well and look beautiful. From about seven centimeters (2.76 inches) below the string on the right side downward, ten kanji characters, which are considered to mean "Dedicated for the spirit of the late Myoen," appear to be engraved. From about seven centimeters (2.76 inches) below the last character of the prayer on the right downward, four kanji characters appear to be engraved, but, unfortunately, they are illegible except one character "oyobi" (meaning "and"). The other three characters must be the name of the dedicator. About seven centimeters (2.76 inches) below the string on the left side, there is an inscription of date reading "August 21, Second year of Bunwa." The second year of Bunwa (1353), which is an era in the Northern Court's calendar, was in the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami and corresponds with the eighth year of Shohei according to the Southern Court's calendar. Below the daimoku prayer in the center a lotus pedestal is carved with seven petals, a middle ovary, and about six pips. As such, it appears to be a considerably gorgeous lotus pedestal. On the left tablet, there are a canopy, the kanji characters of three prayers including daimoku, strings of precious stones and metal pieces, and others in nearly the same way as on the right one. Also on the left tablet, from about five centimeters or 1.97 inches below the string on the right side, nine kanji characters are carved downward, but the last two characters are illegible. The legible characters are considered to mean "Dedicated for Nun ...." Three more kanji characters are carved below the above seven, but two of them are illegible. This tablet is the largest in size and one of the oldest in this ward. It was unearthed in the graveyard and is a treasure of Zuiho-ji. What kind of person dedicated and erected the tablet? He must have been a man blessed with wealth, social standing, and power. The Temple has a total of 13 stone tablets. Out of the eight tablets with an inscription of date, one was made in the mid-Kamakura period, three in the Nambokucho period (the period of the Northern and Southern Courts) (1337-1392), and four in the mid-Muromachi period. Worthy of attention are the two dual tablets, since such dual tablets are really rare.