the Taima-dera, this play also includes the miracle of the mandala. An apparitional nun appears and helps mount the mandala and preaches to Chujo-hime about its meaning. The nun reveals herself as Amida and promises Chujo-hime entry into the Pure Land in 13 years time. Unlike the original narrative told by Lady Nijō, in this play the weaving of the mandala is not just attributed to Chujō-hime’s piousness, but instead on her desire to see her mother’s final resting place. When she passes on, she reaches the Pure Land in a female form. Relics Besides the mandala, there are many purported relics of Chujō-hime that traveled across the Yamato region during the 15th century, mostly by accounts of monk Yūzen. These included handscrolls, ink brushes and statues that were attributed to Chujō-hime. Statues of Chujō-hime as a nun are mostly dated to the 17th century, however there are regional claims that some were carved by Chujō-hime herself. One such statue, housed at Seirenji in Uda-gun, Nara prefecture became the principal object of worship at this Pure Land sect convent. In popular culture There is a 1911 short silent film, starring Matsunosuke Onoe, based upon Chūjō-hime's legend. She is cast as the main female character in the 1939 novel Shisha no sho by Shinobu Orikuchi. In the late Muromachi period the Chujō-hime tale was also used to popularize the gynecological patent medicine known as Chūjōtō which was produced by the pharmaceutical drug company, Tsumura Juntendō. In the otogizōshi versions of the Chujō-hime tale, her concern with her dead mother’s salvation is what allowed her character to rise to the status of sainthood. Marketing for Chūjōtō focused on the connection between menstruation and sin. See also Cinderella Kannon Notes References Ashkenazy, Michael (2003). Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. "Chūjō-hime." (1985). Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd. Papinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. External links Handscroll Taima Mandara engi emaki at the University of Pennsylvania library site 750s births 781 deaths Fujiwara clan Buddhist folklore Japanese folklore Japanese Buddhist nuns 8th-century Buddhist nuns Deified Japanese people