Meguro UNESCO Lecture Series “Great Buddha of Nara
Sponsored by NPO Meguro UNESCO Association, Meguro Board of Education
Lecturer: Tadahiko Katori, honorary member of Tokyo National Museum
Jan. 30 (Fri.) 14:00 – 16:00 / Midorigaoka Cultural Hall / 34 participants
Over 1,200 years ago, a seated statue of Rushana-butsu (the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world) was built at Todaiji Temple in Nara, taking 2.6 million man-days. Mr. Katori, who specializes in ancient casting technique and the history of Japanese metal work, showed us a video depicting a brief history of the great Buddha, which, destroyed twice over the centuries by a fire during battles, has been restored to its present state. He then started to speak with light sense of humor that had once attracted university students belonging to a rakugo (comic storytelling) study group.
He said that Emperor Shomu, considering Buddhism of vital importance, decided to build a 16 meter high giant statue (approx. 15m after its restoration). He built this because during the Tenpyo era, when he reigned, there were so many natural disasters, epidemics, and political unrest, just as today. Todaiji Temple at that time was a major “cultural center” with six thousand priests and five hundred priests’ dormitories, and people had the wisdom to make the most of technical experts from abroad, especially from the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Katori noted.
Among other interesting things he told us about the Great Buddha, the most remarkable one was “the Buddhist view of the universe” engraved on the lotus petals on the base of the statue. Using a rubbed copy of a lotus petal, he explained how the engraving resembles our present-day universe with the Solar System, the Galaxy, and the ever-expanding Macrocosmos, and that people in the 8th century already had the idea of a vast universe containing everything, both living and inorganic.
Regrettably Mr. Katori had little time to refer to the casting technique of the great Buddha, which is described in detail with illustrations in his book “Nara-no Daibutsu” published by Soshisha Publishing Co. We would like you to read this unimaginable historical drama.
-written and translated by Michiko Miyamoto