Tateyama Mandalas

Scroll paintings created during the Edo period to explain the Tateyama mountain faith in accessible visual terms. Each mandala follows a structure of five elements: the founding legend of Saeki Ariyori, depictions of hell and paradise, the sacred landscapes along the route to the summit, the spiritual journey of purification, and the Nunobashi bridge separating the mortal world from sacred ground. About 50 Edo-period examples survive across Japan, carried there by traveling priests who used the scrolls to spread the faith to audiences far from the mountain.