Hibutsu - Hibutsu

This means a hidden Buddha statue, or a Buddhist statue (including a Buddhist painting) that is kept in a shrine or altar and is usually closed with a door or lid so that it cannot be viewed. It is thought to have been influenced by esoteric Buddhism since the Heian period, but there are many examples in Japan from ancient times, such as the Kuse Kannon statue in the Yumedono Hall of Horyuji Temple, the Eleven-Headed Kannon statue in the Nigatsudo Hall of Todaiji Temple, the Amida Triad statue in Zenkoji Temple, the Nyoirin Kannon statue in Ishiyama-dera Temple, the Shaka Nyorai statue in Seiryoji Temple, the Sho Kannon statue in Senso-ji Temple, and the nude Benten statue in Enoshima Shrine. Most of these are open to the public once a year or on the 7th, 33rd, or 61st anniversary of the original date, but there are some that are never open to the public, such as the statues in the Nigatsudo Hall of Todaiji Temple, Zenkoji Temple, and Senso-ji Temple. The principal image of the Buddha in the Yumedono Hall of Horyuji Temple has been kept secret since the Kamakura period, but there is a famous anecdote about when the door to mystery was opened by Ernest Fenollosa, Okakura Tenshin and others in 1884 (Meiji 17).

There are various conditions that must be met to be considered a secret Buddha, and they include those that are secretly revered because of their miraculous powers, as well as those that are too grotesque or erotic to be shown to the public, such as the nude statues of the esoteric Buddhist deity Shoten (Kankiten), or statues that cannot be shown to the public because they have been damaged or destroyed in a disaster.

[Akio Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

秘せられた仏像の意で、厨子(ずし)や仏龕(ぶつがん)に納め、普段は扉や蓋(ふた)を閉じて拝観が許されない仏像（仏画を含む）。平安時代以降、密教の影響を受けたものと思われるが、日本では古くから例が多く、法隆寺夢殿の救世観音(くせかんのん)像、東大寺二月堂の十一面観音像、善光寺の阿弥陀(あみだ)三尊像、石山寺の如意輪観音像、清凉(せいりょう)寺の釈迦如来(しゃかにょらい)像、浅草(せんそう)寺の聖(しょう)観音像、江島(えのしま)神社の裸形の弁才天像などがよく知られている。これらのほとんどは年1回ないし7年、33年、61年目などに開帳されるが、東大寺二月堂、善光寺、浅草寺の像のように絶対秘仏として開帳されないものもある。また法隆寺夢殿の本尊は鎌倉時代ごろから秘仏とされてきたが、1884年（明治17）フェノロサ、岡倉天心らにより神秘の扉が開かれたときの逸話は名高い。

　秘仏とされるものには諸条件があり、霊験(れいげん)あらたかなため秘して特別な尊崇をするもの、また密教の聖天(しょうてん)（歓喜天(かんぎてん)）像とか裸形の尊像などのように、グロテスクもしくはエロティックすぎて一般の公開がはばかられるもの、あるいは災害などで像が損傷を受けたり、滅失して公開できなくなったものも含まれる。

［佐藤昭夫］

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