Sutra Case

Zenkoji Temple
Nagano City, Japan

The Kyozo (sutra hall) features an octagonal revolving sutra case, shown here, that visitors are allowed to spin. In popular Buddhism, spinning a sutra case is like reading the sutras, just as spinning a prayer wheel is like saying the prayer.

The revolving case dates to 1694, and the building itself to 1759, so that the case predates the hall.