38 Syou Kannon

This is the last Kannon figure you see as you leave the Doukutsu Kannon facility.

This oversized work was made at a somewhat different time than the others in the collection, being completed approximately three years before founded Tokuzo Yamada passed away. Both for Tokuzo, as well as for Rakuzan Takahashi in his later years, this was the crowning masterpiece of the latter’s artistic oeuvre.

This Kannon statue stands quietly, with no halo, and holds a lotus flower in her left hand. This is a variant form of the typical statue. Aside from that, she wears the usual knot in her hair, with the upper half of the body nude. Like other Doukutsu Kannon works, this piece, which has a contemporary and sophisticated design overseen by dry-goods merchant Tokuzo Yamada, features a compassionate, gentle expression that belies the fact that the material is stone. The right hand being longer suggests reaching out to everyone.

Syou Kannon is one of the six Kannon. Strictly speaking, her full name is Syoukanzeon Kannon or Syoukanjisai Kannon. Generally speaking, when talking about Kannon, people are referring to this one. It is estimated that this Kannon has the largest number of statues of its kind in Japan, with relics being distributed all over the country from the 7th century through the Edo period (1603-1868 CE). One noted example is the Kannon (a national treasure) enshrined at Yakushiji Temple in Nara, dating to the Hakuho period (645-710 CE).