This beautiful Buddhist statue is made in Takaoka, the largest traditional copperware and ironware production area in Japan, and famous for its Buddhist statues, altars, and other crafts. Each statue is made using high pressure die casting, which results in a smooth and luminous surface, followed by finish work done by a skilled craftsman.
The statue is of Ākāśagarbha (Kokuzo in Japanese), who is regarded in Mahayana Buddhism as one of the eight great bodhisattvas. His name can be translated as "boundless space treasury" or "void store", because his wisdom is said to be boundless as space itself.
Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan, experienced a vision in which Kokuzo told him to go to Tang China to learn the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Sūtra. From his trip and instruction in China, Kūkai would then go on to found the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism in Heian Japan.
A wonderful example of Japanese Buddhist iconography, this statue is both a work of art, and also an object of devotion for believers in Japan.
Product size (approx..): 15 x 6.5 x 6.5 cm
Weight: 580 g
Material: Gold-plated metal alloy
Made in Takaoka, Japan
Shipped directly from Japan