{Inter} Cultural Japan

Fujiidera Temple sits right in the middle of a downtown shopping street, in a town in southern Osaka that is named after it. It reminds us of another Kannon temple, Gumyoji, that stands in similar circumstances in a Yokohama locality. Here, too, the courtyard is filled by old women from the neighborhood, bending down under the load of their shopping. Here, too, pilgrims to the Kannon, clad in white garments, stand chanting the Heart sutra in front of the temple hall. Incense rises up in thick billowing clouds. But the Kannon statue of Fujiidera is even more wonderful then the one in Yokohama. It is only shown once a month, on the eighteenth, the day of the Kannon, when the temple is still busier than on ordinary days.

We have made our way through the crowds of worshippers and, after paying a small fee, ascended to the inner section of the hall. Behind us is a glass window against which noses are pressed of people trying to catch a glimpse of what is inside. The space in front of the altar, where we sit down, is rather cramped, and several people are kneeling down and praying. We seem to be the only ones primarily interested in the artistic aspects of the Kannon rather than the religious ones. The statue sits in an altar cabinet, and is half-hidden behind mountains of fruit, bottles of sake and other pious donations. But we see enough to be able to admire the beauty of the statue.

1041 Hands
The Kannon statue of Fujiidera is a Thousand-armed Kannon and a rare example of one that really has a thousand arms - normally the thousand hands are only symbolically indicated. Here, more than a thousand arms and hands surround the statue like a halo. All these arms have been carved as separate sets and placed behind the statue. In fact, there are 1041 hands, as besides 1000 small hands there are also 41 larger ones. The larger arms stick out of the halo and grab religious objects: a bell, a mirror, a Buddha statue, the Wheel of the Law, an alms bowl. Two hands are folded in silent prayer in front of the breast of the statue. But for the rest, there is that orgy of open hands, like a chorus from heaven. On all the small hands eyes have been painted in black ink, making it literally a Kannon with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. On the head, like a crown, are eleven heads with different expressions, such as anger and joy. In the middle of the crown stands an Amida figure, the Buddha of which the Kannon is considered a manifestation. The statue is flanked by a Jizo and Kokuzo Bosatsu, an arrangement similar to that in the Lecture Hall of Todaiji in Nara.

The Kannon statue is made in the hollow-core dry-lacquer technique - the same technique used for early Tempyo-era (724-94) statues such as the wonderful Ashura in Kofukuji in Nara. The technique was developed in China and enjoyed a sudden and short flowering in the Nara period. On a wooden armature a rough clay model was sculpted. This form was next covered with almost countless layers of hemp cloth soaked in lacquer. Each layer had to dry before the next could be applied, so the technique was both labor intensive and time consuming. It was also extremely expensive, as lacquer - of which a large amount was used - was very precious. When the statue was ready, the clay inside was removed, leaving only the wooden frame for support. Fine details on the statue were sculpted by using a paste of lacquer and other ingredients as saw dust and incense. Finally, color and gold leaf were applied to the finished form. As this technique was so expensive, and needed a whole army of craftsmen, lacquer statues were only made at government order, in state-owned workshops. That raises the question: where did the present statue in this small Osaka temple come from?

An Immigrant Clan
The now small temple was not always so tiny but has been greatly reduced by the ravages of war in the 16th century. Originally, the temple was set up by an ancient family of immigrants from Korea. As is attested to by tiles found in the grounds, its foundation dates back to the Hakuho period (latter half 7th - beginning 8th c.). The word immigration may sound strangely modern, but just like that other famous island, England, Japan experienced many waves of settlers from the continent. Yayoi culture (300 BCE- 300 CE) with its rice cultivation, and casting of iron and bronze, was brought by a vast wave of such immigrants who overwhelmed the older settlers, the Jomon culture. In the centuries after 300 CE settlement was of a more peaceful nature and more often than not at the invitation of existing residents: the Japanese court strove to attract the best craftsmen and the newest technologies from the continent, and this could best be done by inviting Korean clans or technicians to come over and live in Japan. In that period, there were three competing kingdoms established on the Korean peninsula, and the shifting fortunes of war also led some prominent clans to resettle in Japan. That is how the Fujii family ended up in Osaka. Those Korean immigrants also played an important role in the introduction and spread of Buddhism in Japan. The area around Fujiidera, by the way, was settled by more immigrant families who also played a leading role in both the foreign affairs and the internal government of the young Japanese state.

Now we return to the statue. As already indicated, it is rather special in having really 1000 arms and eyes. Buddhist statues were never made according to the fancy of the sculptor, but always had a firm basis in one of the sutras, the Buddhist scriptures. The Kannon of our statue happens to figure in a sutra called ‘Senju Sengan Darani Sutra.’ The name of this rare sutra first appears in Japanese historical chronicles for the year 736. That year had seen an uprising against the court that had been successfully quelled; Genbo, a priest who was very influential at court (he had been the aim of the insurgents) had 1,000 copies made of this Kannon sutra as thanksgiving and celebration for the victory. One such copy survives in the National Museum in Kyoto. He also had a statue made - a statue that must have been based on the iconography of the sutra that was being copied, with a thousand arms and eyes. On top of that, all provinces of Japan were exhorted to join in the celebration and make ten copies of the sutra as well as have a Kannon statue sculpted.

A Victorious Monk
Here the trail peters out. Is the statue in front of us one of the many made in the provinces - if that order was ever fulfilled to the letter? The expensive lacquer technique argues against it, unless the statue was ordered directly from the government workshop in Nara. Another attractive possibility is that the statue we are seeing is the very statue made by Genbo. The only remaining mystery then is how it ended up in the family temple of the Fujii clan (where for a long time it sat in a subsidiary hall - the fact that originally it was not the main statue pleads for a transfer at a later time from the capital) - and to that mystery we have no answer. Never mind. The statue is so beautiful, that a certain amount of mystery suits it.

This gracious statue was made out of gratitude for a victory over insurgents. The thousand hands behind the Kannon seem like an infernal army, grabbing and growling, the hands of those who died in battle. Or is it is the shout of joy of a priest who had won an intrigue?

We have started fantasizing. It is time to leave this superb statue, as we are almost pressed to the side by the crowds of the pious, hoping to be saved by one of those arms, fanning out from behind the statue like the feathers of a peacock. Having enjoyed the art, we again make place for the people to whom this statue belongs.

Temple Name: Fujiidera
Denomination: Shingon Buddhism
Foundation: Trad. by Gyogi
Address: 1-16-21 Fujiidera, Fujiidera-shi, Osaka
Tel. 0729-38-0005
Access: 3-min. walk from Fujiidera Station on the Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line.
Travel tip: Combine with other temples in the area such as Domyoji and Yachuji, and the Konda Hachimangu Shrine.