The Jingoji Yakushi and the production of wooden images of Bhaiṣajyaguru( the Healing Buddha) in Japan during the late Nara (710-794) and early Heian (794-1185) periods

This paper re-examines a series of late Nara (710-794) and early Heian (794-1184) wooden sculptures of the Medicine Buddha (Jap. Yakushi Nyorai, Skrt. Bhaiṣajyaguru) to investigate the religious and cultural role of Buddhist images during the Heian period in Japan. Using contextual analysis and an interdisciplinary approach, this paper tries to explore the iconographic forms of Yakushi sculptures as icons whose powers were heightened during ritual performances. These practices and rituals were not only Buddhist but also indigenous, all related to the concept of genze ryaku (the attainment of practical benefits in this world). The large number of Heian-period extant Yakushi statues, found all over Japan, proves that worship of this deity was widely disseminated. The technical and stylistic characteristics of these Yakushi statues, including the material they were carved from, will also be examined. The choice of wood relates them, at least conceptually, to a category of icons known in Japanese as danzō (sandalwood carvings) which was believed to be particularly effective and sacred in the Buddhist tradition.