Votive Offering (printed paper), ofuda. Rectangle of white paper. Face: print in black of Prince Shotoku Taishi, regarded as the founder of Japanese Buddhism, seated beneath canopy on a carpet, holding a scroll clasped in both hands. His shoes are sitting in front of him on a low stool. There is a single row of characters on the front. Obverse: two red seals, one piriform the other square, with roughly drawn characters in black ink superimposed.
The inscription on the front reads from right to left: 'Nanto Horyuji'. The one on the back is 'Horyuji'. The seal appears to be the name of the temple.
'Nanto' means the southern city and it refers to Nara. This is because Kyoto, which is located north of Nara, is called the Northern City. 'Horyuji' is the Horyu Temple, located in Nara and dating from the beginning of the 8th century AD.
