nenju 念珠

Also juzu 数珠, 誦数. A string of beads or a rosary, used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. Particularly associated with a chant repeating the name of *Amida 阿弥陀, shōmyō nenbutsu 唱名念仏. The number and shape of the beads varies. Nenju are found as attributes *jimotsu 持物, held by the Thousand-armed Kannon *Senju Kannon 千手観音 and other Buddhist deities. An example is the mid 9th-century Nyoirin Kannonzō 如意輪観音像 in Kanshinji 観心寺, Osaka.