Articles
Sanmi no Tsubone: Ashikaga Wife, Imperial Consort, Buddhist Devotee and Patron
Abstract
This article examines the life ofKiyohara (Furuichi) Taneko, better known as Sanmi no Tsubone (1583-1658), to spotlight the role that Buddhism played in the lives of elite widowed women. Married to the son of an Ashikaga shogun and later, after his death, to Emperor Goyozei (r. 1586-1611), she bore three sons who became heads of imperial monasteries called monzeki. After Goyozei's death, she retired to Iwakura north of Kyoto and constructed a splendid hall and other buildings on the grounds of her new residence, which she filled with images symbolic of teachings of the Lotus Sutra. The sculptures were all carved by the famous Nichiren priest-sculptor, Nichigo (1580-1649). Sanmi no Tsubone also patronized the neighboring temples, Jissoin and Daiunji, donating a set of paintings to the former and commissioning a substitute image of the latter's hibutsu. After her death, Sanmi no Tsubone's residence was officially designated as the temple Shokoji by Emperor Gomizunoo and, for the next century and a half, it was headed by a succession of Nichiren priests. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the temple fell into ruin and the images and records were transferred to Daiunji and Jissoin. I seek to recreate the layout of Sanmi no Tsubone's "Lotus Sutra universe" through extant images, textual records, and images by the same sculptor preserved at other temples.