"Kamens has done an excellent job, and his work makes an important contribution to our understanding of religion and literature in Heian Japan."
--Steven Heine in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"To have accomplished so careful and thorough a study, surely Kamens was driven by a seriousness of purpose to rival Tamenori's. . . . The Three Jewels is a very impressive and valuable work of scholarship."
--Margaret Childs in the Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese

"This is fine scholarship. . . . my reading of The Three Jewels yielded unexpected treasure."
--Susan Matisoff in The Journal of Asian Studies

"The depth and breadth of the scholarship that Kamens has brought to the task are impressive. . . . we are fortunate to have Kamens's fine study."
--Marian Ury in Monumenta Nipponica

In A.D. 984 a scholarly Japanese author and bureaucrat, Minamoto Tamenori, created a collection of Buddhist tales for Sonshi, an imperial princess who had just taken vows as a nun. The text is one of the most intriguing contributions to the genre of Japanese Buddhist tale literature (Bukkyô setsuwa), offering many insights into the religion as it was understood from a literary lay perspective in the mid-Heian period.