Note 89 — Japanese Female Names

This name is borrowed from the name of the sacred gem Nyoihōju, which figures both in Shintō and in Buddhist legend. The divinity Jizō is usually represented holding in one hand this gem, which is said to have the power of gratifying any desire that its owner can entertain. Perhaps the Nyoihōju may be identified with the Gem-Treasure Veluriya, mentioned in the Sûtra of The Great King of Glory, chapter i. (See Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi.)