This piece reads as “Mamori-Saru,” or “Protective Monkey.” However, it’s not written with the kanji for the animal “monkey,” but rather that of “Koshin-no-hi (庚申の日)” or “Metal Monkey Day.” So, what exactly is “Metal Monkey Day”? To find out, we must also tell you about the insects known as “Sanshi.”

Sanshi are said to be malicious insects that live inside the human body. “Metal Monkey Day” happens every 60 days, and on that day the sanshi leave their slumbering human hosts to report to the gods. They tattle on all the bad things their humans have done in the past– even the purest among us have done a naughty thing or two. Everyone fears the sanshi for the trouble their tattling causes with the gods, and so people would stay up all night on Metal Monkey Day.

Humans then discovered additional countermeasures for the sanshi. One such measure was based on the image of monkeys grooming one another, eating insects off each other’s fur. Thus, they said that by placing monkey dolls in front of their houses, the monkeys would then eat the sanshi. Strolling through Naramachi, you can see round, red charms everywhere; those are actually “Protective Monkey” charms, and represent the sanshi-eating apes.

The vaguely round penmanship in this calligraphy may represent the shape of a monkey. If you interpret it that way, you can feel the monkey’s strength as it protects you from those pesky sanshi. Judging from the signature, it was scribed by a monk from Yakushiji Temple and was discovered upon cleaning out an old cellar.

It must have surely hung over an important shrine somewhere since Nara is, after all, the city of Metal Monkeys.