Tachibana Shrine

A terminus ante quem is provided by the first documentary evidence for its existence, mention in the temple inventory of 747, the Hōryū-ji garan engi narabini ruki shizai-chō (法隆寺伽藍縁起并流記資材帳), which includes "two items taking the form of a palace building, one with a design of a Thousand Buddhas in repoussé metalwork, the other with a statue of gilt bronze" (宮殿像貳具 一具金泥押出千佛像 一具金泥銅像); the former is understood to be the Tamamushi Shrine, the latter the Tachibana Shrine.

It is punctured with three holes from which rise three lotus stalks, upon which are seated the so-called Lady Tachibana nenjibutsu (tutelary image for daily personal worship), a gilt bronze triad of Amida flanked by Kannon (on the worshipper/viewer's right) and Seishi.

Behind, with two slots in the base plaque, is a tripartite hinged screen with five boddhisattvas and heavenly maidens in relief, and an openwork halo for the central image.

[1][8] As Kidder has observed, the size of the two flanking figures makes them "little different" from the single images produced for aristocratic families, of which there are many examples amongst the Treasures from Hōryū-ji at Tokyo National Museum, while as an ensemble this is the most ambitious overall programme in bronze to survive.

[1][11] Thanks to its connection with Lady Tachibana, the shrine stands alongside the Taima mandala as testimony to eighth-century female interest in Amidism.