Kanayasan Tahoin Ioji Temple
Main Image Seated Bronze Tathagata (Kanaya Yakushi) Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
Impression TagsGentlenessDepthMystery
DescriptionThe principal image of Ioji’s Yakushido Hall is a small gilt-bronze Buddhist statue long revered as the “Kanaya Yakushi.” The figure is 17.2 cm high and 23.6 cm overall, with a childlike appearance marked by an unusually large head and hands. A fire stripped away its gilding and damaged the neck, but careful casting and paired-dot patterns along the robe folds remain. Most scholarship dates it to the latter half of the Nara period, while similarities to Hakuho-period Tathagata images have led to suggestions of an even earlier date. It was designated a Important Cultural Property on June 21, 1991, and is unveiled in a religious service every May 5.
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