"This kakemono represents a Nō dance performer depicting an ancient story of a searcher after the truths of Buddhism. The legend is that a person in Nara said he intended going to China for Buddhist knowledge. The Kami (spirit) of the great Kasuga Shrine at Nara, declared it was useless to make the journey to China for the Kami, himself, would instruct the man of Nara in Buddhism. The Kami is represented in the picture as the Dragon on the dancer's head, giving Buddhist instruction. The implication seems to have been that Buddhism associated with Shinto (as it was at that time in Japan), was on a higher plane than the Buddhism of China. This idea contains a suggestion, too, of Shinto's superiority over foreign cultures as an interpretation of life."--Typed note attached on verso.
