Excavated from Sutra Mound, Oaza Hii Hii Wakaiichi Oji Shrine, Hidaka-cho, Hidaka-gun, Wakayama
Marked 1158 (3rd year of the Ho era)
Height 33.3cm, mouth diameter 21.5cm, body diameter 33.2cm, bottom diameter 12.6cm
Important Cultural Property
Hii Wakaoji Shrine
This jar was excavated on the 13th day of the 5th month of the 7th year of the Horeki era (1757) from one of several sutra mounds constructed along the ridge line of a slightly elevated hill to the southwest of the shrine building, as an outer container for a sutra cylinder. The eight-volume Lotus Sutra is buried inside a copper sutra tube, and the inscription on the back of the sutra dated to the third year of Hogen, making it a well-known reference material with a clear chronological date. The border between the neck of the mouth and the shoulder is clear, and the edges of the mouth rim, which is large and contrary to the outside, are thin and sharp. The shoulders are well-defined, and the straight lines of the body, which bend down to a small base, are extremely neat. The vessel is made of highly refractory clay, and is formed with two sections of 2.5 cm wide corded clay, which is joined in four sections: two sections for the body, the shoulder and the neck. The surface of the vessel has been shaved and shaped vertically. The firing was very good, and the ash glaze on the shoulder was well melted, producing a beautiful light green color. This is one of the best examples of an ancient Tokoname sutra jar.
