Mokujiki Shōnin
Mokujiki Shōnin | |
|---|---|
Self-portrait of Mokujiki Shōnin (Tokyo National Museum) | |
| Born | 1718 Marubatake, Koseki, Kai Province (present-day Minobu, Yamanashi, Japan) |
| Died | July 6, 1810 (aged 91–92) Kai Province, Japan |
| Known for | Buddhist sculpture, poetry, painting |
| Notable work | Smiling Buddhas (Bishō-butsu), Fudō Myōō (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Self-portrait (Tokyo National Museum) |
| Movement | Edo-period Buddhist folk sculpture; later associated with the Mingei movement |
Mokujiki Shōnin (木喰上人, 1718 – July 6, 1810), also recorded as Mokujiki Gogyō Myōman (木喰五行明満), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, itinerant sculptor, painter, and poet of the late Edo period. He is known for carving more than one thousand small wooden Buddhist statues—often with smiling faces (bishō-butsu)—which he left in temples, shrines and villages across Japan.[1][2]
His work was largely forgotten after his death until it was rediscovered in the 1920s by art critic Yanagi Sōetsu, whose research helped inspire the modern mingei (folk craft) movement.[3]
Biography
Mokujiki was born in 1718 in Marubatake, Koseki, Kai Province (today Minobu, Yamanashi). He is recorded as the second son of the village head of the Itō family.[4] At age 14 (1731) he left home for Edo; according to later accounts, he was ordained in 1739 at Ōyama Fudō (Daizan-ji, Sagami, Shingon).[5]
He adopted the mokujiki-kai precepts in 1762 at Rakan-ji (Mito), under the monk Mokujiki Kankai, which required abstaining from grains and subsisting on wild foods; he then used the religious name "Mokujiki."[6] Over his lifetime he also used variants such as Mokujiki Gogyō and Mokujiki Myōman in inscriptions.[4]
Mokujiki began his nationwide pilgrimage in 1773 (age 56), often traveling with his disciple Mokujiki Hakudō.[5] He is documented across Japan from southern Hokkaidō to Kyūshū, leaving single-block (ichiboku-zukuri) wooden images at the places he visited.[4] He stayed on Sado Island for several years (1781–1785), producing numerous statues and scrolls, and later resided at Hyūga Kokubun-ji in Kyūshū.[7] In 1800 (age 83) he worked in Fujieda and Yaizu (Shizuoka), where local records note thirteen statues.[1]
He completed the building and installation of the Shikokudō group in his native Marubatake between 1801 and 1802 (Kansei 13 – Kyōwa 2), carving a set of roughly ninety images modeled on the 88-temple Shikoku pilgrimage, together with a self-image and related figures.[4] He died on July 6, 1810 (Bunka 7, lunar date: 5th day of the 6th month), aged 93.[4][8][note 1]
Sculptural work and style
Mokujiki's statues are generally carved from a single block of wood, often left unpainted, with visible chisel marks. His late style favors compact forms and smiling expressions (bishō-butsu) that contrast with the rugged manner of the earlier itinerant monk-sculptor Enkū.[8][9] Japanese scholarship emphasizes the deliberate retention of tool traces and bold simplification, qualities that later critics compared to aspects of modern sculpture.[6] Subjects include Amida Nyorai (Amitābha), Jizō Bosatsu (Kṣitigarbha), forms of Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), and Fudō Myōō (Acala), as well as figures such as Kōbō Daishi and Prince Shōtoku.[4][1]
Works and cataloguing
Scholarly compilations estimate several hundred surviving works. A 2007 consolidation counted 617 extant, 56 unknown and 31 burned works (total 710) attributed to Mokujiki;[10] a 2015 exhibition tally reported 626 extant works, plus 95 missing/relocated/lost examples documented (total 721), with the largest concentration in Niigata (282), followed by Yamanashi (89), Shizuoka (60) and Yamaguchi (55).[9]
Selected works
| Work (Subject) | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Self-portrait (*Mokujiki Jishinzō*) | c.1804 | Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan) |
| Fudō Myōō (Achala) | 1805 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York[11] |
| Koyasu Kannon (Child-giving Avalokiteśvara) | 1800 | Bairin'in Temple, Fujieda (Shizuoka)[1] |
| Yakushi Nyorai (Medicine Buddha) | 1800 | Bairin'in Temple, Fujieda (Shizuoka)[1] |
Rediscovery and mingei movement
In January 1925, Yanagi Sōetsu encountered Mokujiki statues in Yamanashi (at the home of collector Komiyama Seizō) and began documenting the artist's life and works, soon locating hundreds of examples and publishing his findings; local newspapers reported the growing interest as "Mokujiki fever."[2][7][3] Mokujiki's images later became emblematic of the values promoted by the Mingei movement.[2]
Legacy
Mokujiki is regarded, alongside Enkū, as a leading itinerant monk-sculptor of the Edo period. His works are preserved and exhibited in Japan and abroad, including at the Tokyo National Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[3][9]
Notes
- ^ The lunar date (Bunka 7/6/5) corresponds to 6 July 1810 in the Gregorian calendar.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Come and see the gentle smiles! Take a soothing tour of the Mokujiki Buddhas". Fujieda Tokaido Guide. Archived from the original on 12 October 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ^ a b c Yanagi, Sōetsu (2019). "The Story Behind the Discovery of Mokujiki (1925)". The Beauty of Everyday Things. Penguin Classics. pp. 167–180.
- ^ a b c Rawsthorn, Alice (23 December 2013). "'Mokujiki Fever' Endures". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Kondō, Akiko (2008). "Yamanashi's Mokujiki Buddhas". Born 290 Years: Mokujiki Exhibition (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbunsha. pp. 188–193.
- ^ a b Kondō, Akiko (2009). "The life of Hakudō as seen in "Mokujiki Hakudō Ichidaiki"". Bulletin of the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum (in Japanese) (3): 79–80.
- ^ a b Gorai, Shigeru (1995). Zōbutsushō: Enkū and Mokujiki (Collected Essays on Religious Folklore 2) (in Japanese). Kadokawa.
- ^ a b Moriya, Miho (2008). "Yanagi Sōetsu's Mokujiki Research and the 1920s "Mokujiki Buddha Boom"". Born 290 Years: Mokujiki Exhibition (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbunsha. pp. 194–195.
- ^ a b Gorai, Shigeru (1997). Enkū to Mokujiki (in Japanese). Tankōsha.
- ^ a b c "Kojima Teiji, "The Appeal of Enkū and Mokujiki" & Kondō Akiko, "The first Mokujiki in Tōhoku"". Prayer in Smiles: Enkū and Mokujiki (in Japanese). Art One. 2015. pp. 233–234, 251–257.
- ^ Kojima, Teiji (2007). Collected Data on Mokujiki Buddhas (as of July 2007) (in Japanese). Shinano–Echigo–Sado Mokujiki Exhibition catalogue. p. 178.
- ^ "Fudo Myoo by Mokujiki". The Met. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
Further reading
- Gorai, Shigeru (1997). Enkū to Mokujiki (in Japanese). Tankōsha.
- Gorai, Shigeru (1995). Zōbutsushō: Enkū and Mokujiki (Collected Essays on Religious Folklore 2) (in Japanese). Kadokawa.
- Kobe Shimbunsha, ed. (2008). Born 290 Years: Mokujiki Exhibition (in Japanese).
- Prayer in Smiles: Enkū and Mokujiki (in Japanese). Art One. 2015.
- Kondō, Akiko (2009). "The life of Hakudō as seen in "Mokujiki Hakudō Ichidaiki"". Bulletin of the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum (in Japanese) (3).