“Can you see it?” I ask pointing towards the bronze statue. It is the \u300c\u6d77\u300d\u30d6\u30ed\u30f3\u30ba\u50cf. This monument stands as a testament to history. It silently guards the stories of Kyoto.
Unfortunately I cannot tell you any stories about the \u300c\u6d77\u300d\u30d6\u30ed\u30f3\u30ba\u50cf itself. However I can tell you about a similar site nearby called Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d. This temple is famous for its 1001 Kannon statues. Kannon is the goddess of compassion.
Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d was built in 1164. Taira no Kiyomori built it for Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The temple hall is thirty-three ken long. This is how the temple got its name. A fire destroyed the complex. Only the main hall was rebuilt.
Inside the hall you can see the golden faces. There are a thousand Kannon statues. Twenty-eight sculptures of Buddhist guardian deities stand in the front row. Look closely at the wood on the edge of the building. Arrow notches mark the T\u014dshiya archery competition. It was held at the temple hundreds of years ago.
The 1001 Thousand-Armed Kannon Statues are its well-known aspects. Sculpture masters Unkei and Tankei led the team creating the statuary. The statues are arranged in ten rows and fifty columns. They are made of Japanese cypress covered in gold leaf. One hundred twenty-four original statues were saved from a fire in 1249. The rest were replaced in the 13th century. Each Kannon statue is human-sized. The statues flank a larger statue of the deity. It is a National Treasure.
The thousand-armed Kannon has eleven heads. This helps it to see mankind’s suffering. It has one thousand arms to save everyone in need. The wooden statues only have 42 arms. Each arm holds a different item or poses in a Buddhist symbolic gesture. It is said that you can find a Kannon statue that resembles someone you long to meet.
The hall also displays 28 guardian deities. Their origins lie in Hinduism. They protect the goddess Kannon.
Willow trees scatter around Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d. The temple uses them in the annual Rite of the Willow. Branches purify those who come for a blessing. The temple is also known for its omamori. It is a protective charm called a zuts\u016b f\u016bji. This charm wards off headaches. It contains a piece of willow branch and a sutra. The sutra asks Kannon to heal the holder.
Taira no Kiyomori constructed Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d at the request of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. It served as his retirement palace. The complex burned down in 1249. Only the main hall was reconstructed in 1266. One hundred twenty-four original Kannon statues were saved. The remaining statues were commissioned.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi sought to imitate the Great Buddha hall in Nara. He built another hall just north of Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d. An earthen wall surrounded it. This wall is called the taik\u014dbei. You can still see it today.
Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d was the supposed site of a duel. Miyamoto Musashi fought Yoshioka Denshichir\u014d in 1604. Musashi disarmed his opponent. He later killed the next leader of the sword school.
Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d was home to the T\u014dshiya archery contest. Asaoka Heibei popularized the contest in 1606. Archers shot arrows from the southern end of the hall. The target was at the northern end. The hall is thirty-three ken long. This equals 120 meters.
Records of the competition were kept. They were wooden certificates displayed in the temple. The certificates listed the champions. In 1827, Kokura Gishichi hit the target with 995 of his 1,000 arrows. In 1686, Wasa Daihachiro shot 13,053 arrows. He landed 8,133 shots in one day. The competition ended in 1861. Today, the temple holds the \u014cmato Taikai archery competition. It is held for Coming of Age Day in mid-January.
Sanj\u016bsangen-d\u014d is administered by My\u014dh\u014d-in temple. It belongs to the Tendai School of Buddhism.
While we may not have specific tales woven around the \u300c\u6d77\u300d\u30d6\u30ed\u30f3\u30ba\u50cf, its presence invites us to reflect on the broader tapestry of Kyoto’s heritage.