RogerS
Established Member
Out of all the places we visited in Japan, this one stood out for me particularly as it is woodie-related. The building itself is the longest wooden building in Japan.
Sanjusangendo was founded in 1164 by order of the retired emperor Goshirakawa. The original temple was destroyed by fire in 1249; the present structure dates from its rebuilding in 1266. But the real gems are inside. There are 1000 wooden carved Kannon and to see them in the flesh is humbling.
In front are wooden 28 Japanese deities and 2 traditional Buddhist Temple guardians and centrally inside is the 1000-armed Kannon. Many have eyes made from crystal and make the statues disturbingly lifelike....or maybe I've been watching too much Indiana Jones!
There are 20 pairs of arms but as each arm saves 25 worlds it symbolises the 1000 arms.
The technique used to make both this central Kannon and the other 1000 is called "Yusegi-zukuri" and was arrived at simply because (a) they could not find enough timber of a suitable size and quality to make the statues and (b) it was much easier to make them using this method. We would call it kit-assembly! The body is made from many partly hollowed blocks of wood, carved roughly. Then the surface of the body is finally carved and last the statue is coloured or japanned followed by being plated with gold leaf. These statues were made by 70 or more carvers and construction took over 15 years.
As photography is strictly forbidden inside under pain of having your camera crushed and an eternity of damnation, I've taken these photos from the web. More info on the yosegi-zukuri technique is here http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/y ... ukuri.html
Sanjusangendo was founded in 1164 by order of the retired emperor Goshirakawa. The original temple was destroyed by fire in 1249; the present structure dates from its rebuilding in 1266. But the real gems are inside. There are 1000 wooden carved Kannon and to see them in the flesh is humbling.
In front are wooden 28 Japanese deities and 2 traditional Buddhist Temple guardians and centrally inside is the 1000-armed Kannon. Many have eyes made from crystal and make the statues disturbingly lifelike....or maybe I've been watching too much Indiana Jones!
There are 20 pairs of arms but as each arm saves 25 worlds it symbolises the 1000 arms.
The technique used to make both this central Kannon and the other 1000 is called "Yusegi-zukuri" and was arrived at simply because (a) they could not find enough timber of a suitable size and quality to make the statues and (b) it was much easier to make them using this method. We would call it kit-assembly! The body is made from many partly hollowed blocks of wood, carved roughly. Then the surface of the body is finally carved and last the statue is coloured or japanned followed by being plated with gold leaf. These statues were made by 70 or more carvers and construction took over 15 years.
As photography is strictly forbidden inside under pain of having your camera crushed and an eternity of damnation, I've taken these photos from the web. More info on the yosegi-zukuri technique is here http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/y ... ukuri.html
I have the same shot as you of the roof timbers at the top...didn't post it though - Rob
