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Buddhist Sculptors Gallery
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Nishimura Kocho
Nishimura Koochoo 西村公朝 (にしむらこうちょう)
© www.otagiji.org
Nishimura Kocho was a carver of Buddha statues and restaurateur of old statues.
I have seen him many times on TV and cherish some videos and many books he wrote on the subject of appreciating Buddhist statues.
He even gave me some good advise when I was writing my own books about Buddha Statues.
Born June 4, 1915 in Osaka, he studied art at the Tokyo University of Arts.
After WW2, where he spent some time in China, he began his lifework as restaurateur of the 1000 statues of Kannon Bosatsu and many others in the famous temple Sanjusan Gendo 三十三間堂 in Kyoto.
I remember him showing a small golden jewel 如意宝珠, which he had prepared himself, by filtering the dust of the temple and his workshop every evening, checking carefully for even the tiniest piece of gold dust from the old statues. When the restauration was completed, he used this "essence" of the hall and the statues to make his own treasure.
He was a teacher of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and of Hieizan University of the Tendai Sect.
At the age of 37 he even became a full ordained priest of the Tendai sect, apart from being a master carver, busshi 仏師, and restaurateur, 仏像修理技師.
In 1955 he was appointed head priest at the temple Otagi-Ji 愛宕念仏寺 (Otagi Nenbutsu Ji) in Kyoto, a rather worn-down place when he took over. I visited Otagi-Ji many years later ... what a change! He had made it his job to invite laypeople, show them how to carve simple stone statues and then put these "1200 Arhat" statues all over the temple grounds, high up on the slopes.
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A Kannon To Touch, FureAI Kannon 「ふれ愛観音」
Since most Buddha statues are in temples or museums, you are not supposed to touch them. But for blind people, there is no way to SEE what they are. So Nishimura sensei carved a Kannon Statue and put in up in his temple, where anybody can come and touch it. This became so popular, that within a few years many other temples put up this kind of "toucheable Kannon". In Japanese, there is a play with the writing of this, AI being the Chinese character for LOVE 愛 .
In 1986, he received the honorable title Great Buddha Statues Carver Hooin, "Tendai Daibusshi Hooin" 天台大仏師法印.
This is the highest rank given to a master carver and had not been bestowed to a carver for quite a long time before him.
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This is one of the books that came with an NHK programm about making and painting Buddha statues in an easy way.
"If you make a statue with all your heart, it will be your Buddha,whatever it looks like!" he used to encourage the students.
Click here to see some of his goods with simple Buddha statues !
He died on December 2, 2003, at the age of 89 years.
平成１５年１２月２日 遷化 享年８９歳
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A Tourist Guidebook to Paradise
GokuRaku no Kankoo Annai 極楽の観光案内
Since my own home is called "Paradise Hermitage", GokuRakuAn, this book of Nishimura Sensei is of great importance to me. It introduces the Buddhist aspects of Paradise in its various forms.
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仏像の祈り Butsuzoo no Inori
Prayer of Buddhist Statues
A set of 11 DVD about Buddhist Statues
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Otagi Nenbutsu Temple 愛宕念仏寺
Detailed Biography in Japanese
With many many photos !
Koutyo Nishimura 1915.6.4-2003.12.2
NHK 仏像の種類
Other Japanese Reference
Mark Schumacher about ARAKAN / RAKAN
Look at more PHOTOS !
Gabi Greve
Buddhastatuen (Buddha statues) Who is Who
Ein Wegweiser zur Ikonografie von japanischen Buddhastatuen
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The son of Nishimura Kocho is now head priest at the Otagi Temple.
Koei (Nishimura Kooei 西村公栄 (にしむら こうえい）is also a great musician.
This is my favorite CD of Koei Sensei. The painting, by Kocho Sensei, is also used on a mug cup sold at the temple, which I use for my daily tea.
The inscription reads :
How good to be born in this world!
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My favorite Fudo Myo-O statue
西村公朝師の不動明王
生木に彫られています carved into a living tree
１日で彫られました carved in one day
百年後にどうなるのか？ How will it look in 100 years ?
- source : shigeru.kommy.com
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. Fudō Myō-ō, Fudoo Myoo-Oo 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O
Acala Vidyârâja - Vidyaraja .
with more details of Kocho Sensei and his Fudo Myo-O
. tachikibutsu 立木仏 Buddhas in living trees .
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My small tribute to Nishimura Sensei
思いのまま 宝をくれる 仏かな
summer dreams -
ask this Buddha and
you shall receive
Daruma Pilgrims in Japan
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Not to mix up :
Atagoyama 愛宕山 [あたごやま] is the highest mountain in the Kyoto area.
Atago and Otagi designated two old cemeteries on opposite sides of Kyoto.
The phonetic similarity of their names has often caused confusion.
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji is now located in the foot of the approach to MountAtago, in the the northwest of Kyoto.
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Who made Buddha Statues ?
Mark Schumacher
Buddhist Sculptors Gallery
Daruma Pilgrims in Japan
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http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/otagi_nenbutsu.htm
THE QUIRKY JAPAN HOMEPAGE
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
Arashiyama is one of Kyoto’s most beautiful neighbourhoods, and hundreds of thousands of tourists visit there every year, but unfortunately, almost no one ever makes it to the area’s most interesting temple.
It’s called Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, and it has some of the funniest, most fascinating and beautiful Buddhist sculptures in the entire country.
Originally founded by Emperor Shotoku in the middle of the eighth century, this temple has had some seriously bad luck. It was first built in the Higashidera area of Kyoto, but was destroyed by a flood of the Kamo River, and was rebuilt as a branch of Enryaku-ji, the famous Tendai sect temple on Mt. Hiei. Its main hall was burned to the during a civil war in the thirteenth century, and after moving to its present location in 1922, it suffered severe damage in a typhoon.
From the road, Otagi Nenbustu-ji looks like a very ordinary temple, but after passing through the gate, with its two typically terrifying Nio statues (the fierce looking guardians one often finds at the entrance to temples), you will notice two more Nio, and these definitely tend toward the cute, rather than the ferocious end of the spectrum.
These kawaii guardians are just the beginning though, and there are more than 1200 statues on the temple’s grounds. Walking up the path to the main hall, there are dozen or so strange little faces peering down at you, most of them half-hidden in the tall grass.
Although they will give you some hint of the strangeness you are about to encounter, most visitors are still shocked when they see the hundreds of bizarre figures carved in grey stone by the main hall of the temple.
These statues are called rakan, and they represent the 500 disciples of Buddha. Although many Buddhist sculptures are carved to represent exquisite beauty or terrifying ferociousness, rakan almost always seem to be carved in the spirit of humour and good fun.
There are also Rakan-ji temples in Otaru (Hokkaido) and Oita (Kyushu) with carvings every bit as bizarre as those at Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, but the statues here are special because most of them were made by amateur carvers.
In 1981, when the 1950 typhoon damage was finally repaired, worshippers at the temple decided to donate rakan sculptures to the temple in honour of its refurbishing. A famous sculptor, Kocho Nishimura taught hundreds of sculptors, amateur and professional alike how to carve statues from stone, and the result is a delightful mix of serene and scary, somber and silly.
Spend a few hours there and see if you can find the surfing Buddha, the two tipplers, the saxophone player, the photographer and the disciple doing a handstand. Since the installation of the Rakan, a custom has evolved among visitors to the temple of trying to find a statue that resembles your own face.
It can be fun, but you may be in for a shock if you go with someone else and are suddenly told that the buck-toothed, bowl cut-sporting statue with a nose the size of a potato looks a lot like you.
The temple must be one of the mossiest, most eroded places in Kansai, and walking its grounds, one has the distinct impression that man is fighting a losing battle with nature here. All in all it’s a very mysterious place, always a little dark and always the moss on the statues and the way they are being eroded just adds to the atmosphere.
Getting There:
From Kyoto station, take bus 72 to Otagidera Mae (愛宕寺前). From Hankyu Arashiyama station, take bus 62 or 72 to Otagidera Mae. If you know Arashiyama, go to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji and follow the walking path north. You'll come to Otagi in about 10 minutes.
http://kajipon.sakura.ne.jp/kt/haka-topic17.html
昭和・平成と活躍し、その卓越した技術と膨大な仕事量から“最後の仏師”と言われた西村公朝は、１９１５年大阪高槻に生まれた。１９３５年（２０歳）、現代彫刻に憧れ東京美術学校（東京芸大）に入学。
１９４０年、彫刻科を卒業。中学で美術を半年教えた後、翌年に２６歳で美術院国宝修理所へ就職。 そして、４年前（１９３７年）から始まっていた京都・三十三間堂の千体千手観音像の仏像修理（毎年５０体を修理する大事業）に加わった矢先、１９４２年（２７歳）、召集令状を受け取り中国へ出征する。
公朝は中国戦線で夜間行軍中、あまりの疲労の為に不思議な夢を見た。１人で銃を持って前進する自分の左右に無数の仏様が現れたのだ。その仏様をよく見ると、どれもが割れたり欠けたりしている痛々しい仏像だった。公朝は「私に直してほしいのか？ならば無事に日本へ帰してくれ」と声をかけた。果たして公朝は終戦まで大陸を転戦したが、自らが死ななかっただけでなく、１人の人間も殺さずに済んだという。
１９４５年（３０歳）、帰国した公朝が三十三間堂に戻ると、修復作業は敗戦直後の混乱の中もずっと続いていた。「天命だ」こう感じた公朝は現代彫刻の道に進まず、仏師の道一本に進んでいく。１９５８年（４３歳）、２１年をかけてついに１０００体すべての千手観音像の修理が完了。その内、公朝は
６００体の修理に携わった。三十三間堂での大仕事が終わった翌年、４４歳で美術院国宝修理所の所長に就任する。１９７４年（５９歳）には東京芸大教授に着任。
この間、公朝は仏師として活躍するかたわらで、３７歳の時に得度して僧侶になっており、１９５５年には４０歳で天台宗・愛宕念仏寺の住職に任命されている。
愛宕念仏寺は約１２５０年前に京都東山に建立された古刹だが、平安初期に鴨川の洪水で寺が流され、醍醐天皇の命を受けた天台僧・千観内供（せんかんないぐ）によって千年前に比叡山の末寺として再興された。その後、次第に寺運は傾き、公朝が赴任した時、愛宕念仏寺は京都一の荒れ寺と言われ、檀家もおらず境内は雑草が生い茂り荒廃しきっていた。本堂もかなり傷んでいたが、仏像たちの置かれている状況はもっと深刻だった。
前住職は生活苦の為に次々と仏像を売り払い、本尊の千手観音は、腕を一本ずつバラ売りした挙句、４２本中、残っていたのは僅かに４本のみだった。公朝は自分で足りなかった３８本を彫り、数百年が経ったような退色した色を作ってこれに塗り、完璧に修復した。以後、全国各地の仏像を修理しながら、寺に戻っては少しずつ境内を整備していった。
「何とかして、現代を生きる人々に、もっと仏の教えを身近に感じてもらいたい」。長年こう思っていた公朝は、仏師の第一人者として「祈る気持ちさえあれば誰だって仏像を彫れるんだ」という確信から、そして寺の復興を祈願する思いも込めて、１９８１年（６６歳）、一般参拝者に向かって「羅漢さんを彫りませんか」と呼びかけた。羅漢（らかん、正式には阿羅漢）とは釈迦の弟子となって仏教を広め伝えた僧侶のこと。
釈迦が他界する時に立ち会った羅漢は５００人と言われており、彼らは「五百羅漢」と呼ばれている。釈迦入滅の１００年後に、教義が誤って伝えられていくのを防ぐ為に、７００人の羅漢が大集会を開いて、釈迦の教え（言葉）を全員で再確認したとされている。
公朝の呼びかけに全国から人が集まり、彼らは全く素人ながら公朝の指導を受けて石を刻み続け、彫り始めて１０年後（１９９１年）、ついに願いは達成され１２００羅漢が境内を埋め尽くした。時に公朝７６歳。
※これより前、１９８６年（７１歳）に天台大仏師法印号を授かる。
１９９４年、最晩年の大仕事となる釈迦十代弟子の制作を開始。２００３年、十代弟子の最後の１人を彫り上げた２ヵ月後に他界した。初めて三十三間堂でノミを握ってから６２年。この間、公朝が修復した仏像は、広隆寺・弥勒菩薩（折れた指を復元）や平等院・阿弥陀如来など、実に１３００体以上！仏教と仏像の素晴らしさを、時にはお寺から飛び出して、著作、講演、様々な媒体でやさしく説き続け、愛宕念仏寺を立派に復興させて旅立った。
これら全ての根底にあるのは２０代後半に戦場の夢で出会った、壊れた仏像たちとの約束。公朝は晩年になっても、口癖のように繰り返していた「あの仏像たちを思い出すと、約束を果たしたなんて到底言えない。見渡す限り何万とあったのだから」。
●「ふれ愛観音」について
愛宕念仏寺の境内には１９９１年に７６歳の公朝が制作した「ふれ愛観音」が安置されている。お寺の仏像は触ってはいけないのが普通だけど、この観音様は手で触れられることを喜んで下さる仏様だ。この仏像が誕生した経緯や後日談を最後に紹介したい。
公朝が亡くなった後、生涯を綴った追悼番組が放映された。僕はその中でとても懐かしい顔を見た。川島さんという全盲の女性だ（約１５年前にドキュメンタリーで見て覚えていた）。当時２７歳の彼女は美術館でロダンの彫刻に触れた時のことを「６歳で失明して以来、約２０年間で初めての強烈な体験」と語り、「（ロダンの彫刻は）脈を打ってるのが分かる。
このまま柔らかかったら人を直接触ってるみたい」と熱く話していた。作者の生命が彫刻から直接伝わって来る事に気付いた彼女が、ぜひ触ってみたかったもの…それが仏像だった。これまでお寺に御参りする事はあっても、仏像の形が全く想像できず、自分がどんなものを拝んでいるのか分からなかったからだ。しかし、大切な仏像を触らせてくれる寺など聞いたことがない。
この時、理解を示してくれたのが、仏師として誰よりも仏像を愛していた公朝だった。「仏師は観賞用に仏を彫るんじゃない。人々と共に在って初めて仏も生きる」そう言って川島さんを京都仁和寺に招待した。この時公朝が案内した仏像は、平安初期の国宝・阿弥陀如来！川島さんは阿弥陀の足、手、頬に触れ、１２００年前の仏師の息づかいを聞いたという。
仏師たちの「この仏で苦しむ人を一人でも救いたい」という祈りに触れた川島さんは、阿弥陀仏の両手をジッと握ったまま「安心する…なんだろう…とても身近な気がします」と照れるように語った。
川島さんは言う「私は触れる事で生きている。触れるという事、それは時に危険だったり、恐ろしいものであるかもしれない。でも、私はぶつかって行くしかない。触れる事が私にとって世界を確かめる術（すべ）なのだから」。
この川島さんとの出会いがきっかけとなって、公朝は「ふれ愛観音」を彫り上げた。
その川島さんが公朝の追悼番組に出ていた。１５年ぶり。ブラウン管の中の少し歳をとった川島さんは、今度は国宝の阿弥陀仏ではなく、公朝が残していった「ふれ愛観音」を優しく撫でさすっていた。「先生（公朝）、ここにいらっしゃたんですね」。
川島さんは目を潤ませながらも、笑顔を作ってこう続けた「先生が彫られた、一つ一つのもの全ての中に、ずっと先生の命と心が宿っているから、亡くなった今も、こうして先生の存在を確かめることが出来て、私はとても嬉しいです」。
※ふれ愛観音座像は２００３年の時点で、京都清水寺や鎌倉長谷寺など、既に全国６０カ所に安置されているとのこと。
「現代の材料を仏像の修理に使うと、それが何十年、何百年たってどう変質するか分からないから、自分は“こくそ漆”など昔からのものを使う」（公朝）
「仏教には色々な宗派がありますが、どれも仏教の一部に過ぎないんです。それなのに各宗派の人は自分たちの教祖のことばかり話している。みんな、お釈迦さんのことを忘れている」（公朝）～仏像修理の際には宗派など問題じゃない。釈迦は釈迦だ。そんな公朝の言葉だからこそ説得力がある。
LIFE IN STONE
The Buddha . .
of rock 'n' roll -
returns no treasure.
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Rebuilding Bamiyan . . .
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Fudo Myo-O
Carved by Nishimura Kocho in 1975, Kyoto, Zengan-Ji 善願寺
in a keya tree (Torreya nucifera)
京都 醍醐 善願寺の 榧の木不動.
西村公朝師の1957年のお作。
Decades-long restoration of ancient 1,000 Kannon statues nearing completion
KYOTO--Restoration work on the famed 1,000 statues of Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy, at Sanjusangendo temple is nearly 90 percent complete after an effort that began in the 1930s.
Eleven of the statues were returned to the temple in the city’s Higashiyama Ward on March 31 after undergoing repair work in fiscal 2014.
Sanjusangendo temple and its sitting Senju Kannon Zazo statue, its primary effigy, are designated national treasures. The 1,000 thousand-armed Sentai Senju Kannonryu-zo statues that stand around Senju Kannon Zazo are recognized as national important cultural properties.
Initial repair work on the 1,000 statues and a statue behind Senju Kannon Zazo started in fiscal 1936 and lasted through fiscal 1956. Under the process, 50 statues were dismantled and reassembled each year.
From 1973, more detailed restoration was carried out by a group of craftsmen in Bijyutsuin Kokuho Shurijo workshop, in Kyoto’s Shimogyo Ward. They removed dust and conducted other work.
Restoration work on 898 of the Kannon figures is complete. The repair work on the 103 remaining statues will start sometime around June after renovations are completed on the studio where they will be repaired.
Other than the 1,001 Kannon statues, five of which are on extended loan to the national museums in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara, the temple is also home to the Fujin Raijin-zo (god of wind and god of thunder statues) as well as the Nijuhachibushu-zo (28 god statues). Fujin Raijin-zo and Nijuhachibushu-zo are collectively designated a national treasure.
By TOMOYOSHI KUBO
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http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504010070
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Legends about Sanjusangendo 三十三間堂 Hall with 33 Spaces
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https://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.com/2021/08/sanjusangendo-legends.html
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