December 29, 2007
The Sanbo Yoraku 'Taking Refuge' Honzon (# 038)
This is known as the 三光瓔珞本尊 [Sanbo Yoraku Honzon]. Sanbo 三光 = Three Treasures, Triple Jewel. Yoraku 瓔珞 = Taking Refuge.; literally 'jeweled necklace" The conferral reads: 亀若護也. The 護也 might mean "to protect" with the former possibly indicating a name. The name could translate literally as 'Young Tortoise." 若 could. perhaps, indicate it was for a child, or the younger. I can only guess at these 4 kanji; using the SWAG system, with limited "S." The conferral data and dates on #39 & 40 are similar; so this might provide some clues as to who was this young turtle. The date is given as: 建治2年8 月13日. That is the second year of kenji, the 8th moon and the 13th sun. The first year of Kenji was 1275; so we have August 13 1276 as the solar date. It is housed at Myomanji Temple in Kyoto; which, IIRC, is the Head Temple of the school known as Kenpon Hokke. 