Kin No Tamushi | 2025 |

In ancient Japan, this beetle was nothing short of a biological treasure. Its wing cases were collected, lacquered, and inlaid into the most sacred and luxurious objects: Buddhist altar fittings, the hilts of ceremonial swords ( tantō ), and the interior ornaments of the Shōsōin repository in Nara. The name tamushi itself is archaic, predating modern entomological terms, and carries a poetic weight — tama (ball, jewel) and ushi (an old suffix for small creatures). To the Heian court, the beetle was a jewel that breathed. The metaphorical power of Kin no Tamushi crystallizes in a famous episode from The Tale of the Heike (early 13th century), the great epic of samurai rise and fall. In the chapter concerning the priest and military leader Tairen (or in some versions, a wandering ascetic), a debate arises over the nature of religious truth and worldly illusion.

Master: “And now?”

A man is given a golden jewel beetle. When he looks at it directly, head-on, he sees only a dull, dark insect. But when he tilts it slightly — when he changes his perspective — it blazes with glorious gold. The question posed is: Which is the beetle’s true form? The drab insect or the radiant jewel? Kin No Tamushi

The answer, in the Buddhist-inflected logic of the tale, is: Neither is false, yet neither is the whole truth. The beetle’s nature is to appear differently based on the viewer’s angle, the light, the condition of the eye. So too with all phenomena. A beautiful person, a noble cause, a beloved object — all seem glorious from one angle and tarnished from another. To cling to any single appearance is to fall into illusion ( māyā ). But to deny the beauty entirely is also a form of blindness. In ancient Japan, this beetle was nothing short

Master: “Turn it again.”