1,200th-anniversary memorial of Kobo Daishi
Daishido — Kobo Daishi Statue Restoration Fund
A fund to restore, for the centuries ahead, the life-size statue of Kobo Daishi enshrined in the Daishido. From 500 yen per share, anyone may form a bond.
Restoring the Daishi statue for the centuries ahead
Within the Daishido stands a life-size statue of Kobo Daishi. Seated at human height, the figure has long been the centre of daily worship. Yet over the years its wood, colour, and structure have worn, and as it is, we cannot pass it on to the next generation with an easy heart.
This restoration is not a mere resurfacing. After a careful study of its condition, we will rebuild the ground with a firm lacquer base (kataji) and apply colour to match, so that the statue itself endures for five centuries, its noble form kept until the 1,700th-anniversary memorial of the Daishi.
The cost covers not only the statue itself but the canopy and seat that enshrine it, and the wall behind, all that is needed to keep the image safely in place. With materials and skilled hands growing harder to find year by year, we wish to do the finest work we can now and carry it to the future. The whole is estimated at 15,000,000 yen. It is a large request, and we make it with humility.
From 500 yen per share, you may form a bond in any number of shares. Please join in this offering to carry the Daishi’s form to the ages that follow, within your means. The restoration begins once the offerings are gathered; the sooner the bond is formed, the sooner the figure is renewed.
About Kobo Daishi
Kobo Daishi, Kukai (774–835), was born in the province of Sanuki, crossed to Tang China to receive the orthodox transmission of esoteric Buddhism from Master Huiguo, and founded the Shingon school in Japan. A master of calligraphy, of engineering works, and of education, he carried the Buddha’s teaching into the daily life of the people.
In 835, the Daishi entered meditation at Mount Koya. In the Shingon school he is held not to have died, but to remain even now in deep meditation at the Okunoin of Koya, watching over us. To this day, meals are carried to him there each day, without pause.
The statue enshrined in the Daishido brings the Daishi’s form to this place, a presence before which we join our hands day by day.
The Daishido and its life-size statue
Byodoji is the twenty-second sacred site of the Shikoku pilgrimage, said to have been opened by Kobo Daishi himself in 814. Its mountain name is Hakusui-zan and its temple name Io-in (also Nikko-in); since the Daishi’s founding it has belonged to Mount Koya, keeping the old-tradition (kogi) Shingon lineage.
At the temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage, a hall apart from the main hall is given over to the Daishi. The principal image of Byodoji’s Mieido (the Daishido) is a statue of Kobo Daishi, long revered for its evident grace. At human height, it still receives, without cease, the joined hands of the pilgrims who walk the route.
For generations, the people of this place and the pilgrims who pass through have joined their hands before it and entrusted to it their sorrows and their wishes. As the 1,200th-anniversary memorial of the Daishi’s entering meditation draws near, to bring this statue to its finest form and guard it for the generations to come is the wish behind this restoration.
How restoration brings a statue back
The before and after of a Kobo Daishi statue already restored. Damage is halted, the form is set right, and the image returns to the place of worship.
Note: this is a reference example of a separate, earlier Kobo Daishi statue restoration, not the statue of this fund (the Daishi statue of the Daishido).
How the restoration proceeds
This is not a touching-up of a worn surface. The old coatings are first taken down entirely, back to the bare wood; keeping that wood as the core, the necessary repairs are made and the figure is built up anew, from ground to colour. The woodwork is the sculptor’s, the lacquer and colour the lacquer-master’s (nushi); a Kyoto master gives his utmost, by every means the craft allows, to bring it to its finest form as Kobo Daishi, renewed far beyond how it stands today.
Survey and record
The figure as it stands is recorded in photographs and notes; parts are dismantled to examine the crystal eyes, the joints, and the hollowed interior.
Stripping back to the wood
The coatings and grounds laid down over the years are carefully removed, back to the bare wood, so the work begins face to face with the Daishi’s wooden core.
Repairing the wood
Damaged wood is mended, loosened joints are rejoined, and cracks and losses are filled with kokuso-urushi (lacquer kneaded with wood powder). The wood is kept, and what is needed is added to set the figure right.
The lacquer ground (kataji)
On the wood, the ground is built up anew in lacquer (kataji). This footing, made to endure, is the heart of the restoration.
Colour and finish
Fresh colour fit to the ground is applied, and the figure is brought to its finest form.
Pedestal and halo
The pedestal and halo that support the figure are tended to as well.
Eye-opening and return
An eye-opening rite is held, and the statue returns to its place of worship in the Daishido.
Kataji is a lacquer ground made by kneading lacquer with fine stone powders (tonoko and jinoko) and building it up in layers. Once hardened it is exceedingly hard and resistant to damp, and so it has long been used as the most thoroughgoing ground for canopies and altar fittings (honkataji). Unlike a glue-based ground, it does not soften with water; colour laid over it can keep the form safe for centuries.
Every name, within the statue
Whatever the amount, every donor’s name is recorded in the donor register and placed with care within the restored statue.
Setting a name not on paper alone, but within the form of the Daishi, is the weight of this offering. It is placed before the Daishi in daily worship and carried into the future.
From your offering to the eye-opening rite
Choose your shares
From 500 yen per share, in any number you wish.
Enter a name
Enter the name to be placed within the statue. A wish may be added if you have one.
Payment
Pay by card or other means; a confirmation of receipt is sent to you.
Into the register
Your name is entered in the donor register.
Placed within the statue
During the restoration, your name is placed with care within the figure.
Eye-opening and report
An eye-opening rite is held for the restored statue, and a report is sent to those who gave.
The eye-opening rite (kaigen kuyo) welcomes the restored statue once more as an image to be revered. The names placed within it are carried, before the Daishi in daily worship, to the ages that follow. Those who give are sent an invitation to this eye-opening rite.
Form a bond with the Daishi statue
Choose the number of shares (500 yen each), and enter the name to be placed within the statue.
The name recorded in the register and placed within the statue.
A wish to place before the Daishi, if you have one.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. There are no tiers and no difference in return by amount. Every donor, large or small, has their name placed within the statue alike.
One share is 500 yen, and you may give any number of shares. The recommended amount is 20 shares (10,000 yen). The fund’s goal is 15,000,000 yen.
The top photo shows the Kobo Daishi statue enshrined in the Daishido. The before-and-after photos are reference examples from a separate, earlier restoration.
At the earliest, restoration begins around 2028, and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2033 at the latest.
As an offering to a religious corporation, it is not tax-deductible.
Dāna
Form a bond from 500 yen
Whatever the amount, every name is placed within the Daishi statue. Please join in carrying the Daishi’s form to the future.