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Metropolis Japan
25-06-2025
- Metropolis Japan
Experience a Timeless Sanctuary of Prayer: 'Unkei: A Space of Prayer – Kita‑En‑dō Hall of Kōfuku‑ji Temple'
Step into the spiritual aura of Kōfuku‑ji's Kita‑En‑dō Hall this autumn, as Tokyo National Museum presents Unkei: A Space of Prayer – Kita‑En‑dō Hall of Kōfuku‑ji Temple. Celebrating the recently restored masterpiece of the Maitreya Buddha (Miroku Nyorai), flanked by the bodhisattvas Mujaku and Sesshin–Unkei's late-career marvels–this rare exhibit brings together seven awe-inspiring National Treasure statues in a faithful reconstruction of the Kamakura-period inner sanctum. Built in 721, Kita‑En‑dō Hall stands as Japan's most elegant octagonal worship space. It offers an intimate glimpse into Unkei's devotional world and the Kei school's revitalization of Buddhist sculptural realism. This is the first opportunity in over 60 years to see these priceless sculptures outside Nara, recreated here to evoke the solemn atmosphere of its original setting. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30 am-5 pm. For .
13-06-2025
- General
The Amida Triad at Jōrakuji, Kanagawa
The great Buddhist sculptor Unkei traveled east from Nara to the Kantō region to create this masterpiece. Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Western Pure Land, is flanked by two attendant bodhisattvas: Kannon (Avalokiteshvara), often known as the Bodhisattva of Mercy or Compassion, and Seishi (Mahasthamaprapta), who represents the power of wisdom and whose name means 'arrival of the great strength.' The images were commissioned by Wada Yoshimori, an important military general and supporter of the shogunate in the early Kamakura period (1185–1333). The triad is now the principal image enshrined at the temple of Jōrakuji in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Amida wears a monk's robes, his right shoulder bared. He makes the raigōin or 'welcoming mudra': right hand raised, forefinger and thumb joined to form a circle, with the left hand lowered. This gesture is closely associated with Amida, and represents the sign he is believed to make when he comes to welcome souls to his Pure Land at the moment of death. The two bodhisattva figures have high-swept topknots ( motodori ) and stand with their waists slightly turned. They form a graceful contrast to Amida, who sits in a pose of solemn gravity. (© Muda Tomohiro) The two bodhisattvas: Seishi Bosatsu (left) and Kannon Bosatsu (© Muda Tomohiro) All three images are made from hinoki wood (a type of cypress) using the yosegi-zukuri technique, in which the main part of the statue is constructed from two or more pieces of wood. All three have eyes sculpted directly into the wood ( chōgan ) rather than the 'jeweled eyes' ( gyokugan ) popular at the time, which used inlaid crystal. The images in the same temple of Fudō Myōō (Achala, the Immovable) and Bishamonten (Vaisravana, one of the four heavenly kings), also by Unkei, do feature crystal eyes, suggesting a deliberate aesthetic decision on the part of the artist. Unkei apparently felt it was inappropriate to use gyokugan to impart a 'humanlike' sparkle to the eyes of Buddhist images, which were supposed to represent superhuman beings. In his works that followed this Amida Triad, Unkei increasingly preferred to use the chōgan technique when carving the eyes of buddhas and bodhisattvas. These five images were made in 1189, when Unkei was in his thirties. All five are designated as important cultural properties. Around three years before he made the images at Jōrakuji, Unkei was commissioned by Hōjō Tokimasa to produce a set of five images at Ganjōjuin (Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture). This group is made up of an image of Amida Nyorai, a triad of Fudō Myōō with two attendant boys, and Bishamonten. The practice of worshipping this combination of images together seems to have been popular among the samurai class at the time. Photographer Muda Tomohiro says he has always been impressed by what he calls a 'difference in atmosphere' between the sculptures Unkei made in Kantō and those he made in Nara. 'In Nara, all the pieces were commissioned by temples, whereas in Kantō it was often members of the samurai class who paid to have new images made. It's as if that difference somehow made itself felt in the images. In Nara, the compassion and mercy of Buddhism are brought to the fore, whereas with the Kantō images it's qualities of nobility and strength that stand out.' (© Muda Tomohiro) The grounded majesty of this Amida Triad must have brought reassurance and peace of mind to the faithful. Unkei surely wanted to convey a message that even the samurai who lived their lives in the realm of violence could achieve rebirth in the Pure Land through the power of faith. Wada Yoshimori, who commissioned the triad, was a faithful retainer of Minamoto no Yoritomo and one of his foremost generals. From the moment Yoritomo raised an army to challenge the old order, Yoshimori fought steadfastly by his side, helping to establish the new government in Kamakura. As ruler of the Miura Peninsula, he became the first director ( bettō ) of the shogunate's Board of Retainers, overseeing military and security affairs. But his fortunes changed after the death of the shogun, as the Hōjō clan gradually wrestled control from Yoritomo's heirs. Yoshimori was provoked into revolt, and he and his family were destroyed in the fighting that followed. Did his faith in Amida, embodied in these timeless images, guide him to rebirth in the Western Paradise? (Because of renovation work, the images will not be on view until at least the middle of August 2025.) Amida Triad Height: 1.41 meters (Seated figure of Amida Nyorai), 1.78 meters (Standing image of Kannon Bosatsu), 1.77 meters (Standing image of Seishi Bosatsu) Date: Kamakura period (1185–1333) Jōrakuji, Kanagawa Prefecture Important cultural asset (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Figures of the Amida Triad at Jōrakuji. © Muda Tomohiro.)
