the treasures, the Shōsōin also preserved more than 10,000 documents, mostly from an eighth-century scriptorium. These documents contain diverse materials including censuses, tax records, and even poetry. The vast majority of documents, however, record the day-to-day record keeping of a sutra copying office active, albeit under a number of different names, between 727–776. The collection is perhaps unparalleled globally as a tightly focused eighth-century archival collection of manuscripts. The documents were first rediscovered in the 1830s by an antiquarian scholar named Hoida Tadatomo. Hoida and his successors peeled individual sheets apart and reassembled them into new scrolls, disrupting the original organization of the documents. Print versions of most of the documents were published in the first twenty-five volumes of Dai Nihon komonjo beginning in 1901. Subsequent scholarship has allowed scholars to better understand how the scrolls were originally configured. They have also been digitized and are now publicly available for viewing. Silk collection Since 1994, the Imperial Household Agency's Office of the Shoso-in Treasure House, which is responsible for the administration of the repository, has been producing exact reproduction of ancient Nara textiles. Apart from the appearance and colour, care has been given to reproduce the production and weaving style. The silk is donated each year by Empress Masako, who personally runs the Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery at Tokyo Imperial Palace. See also For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism. Kura (storehouse) The Kamakura Museum of National Treasures designed to resemble the Shōsō-in, also holds a fine collection of Japanese art and sculpture. References External links Guide to Shosoin research (Nara period written documents of the scriptorium) Imperial Household Agency page for Shōsōin (in English) Imperial Household Agency page for Shōsōin (in Japanese) Shosoin Tanabetsu Mokuroku (List of Shosoin Solid Objects) Buddhist temples in Nara, Nara Imperial Household Agency Museums in Nara Prefecture National Treasures of Japan World Heritage Sites in Japan