Shichijo bussho

• Japanese: 七条仏所 (shichijou bussho)

The Buddhist sculpture studio at Shichijô (lit. "Seventh Avenue," in Kyoto) was the preeminent such studio in late 16th to early 17th century Japan. Claiming teacher-student descent from Jôchô, the great master of the 11th century famed for his Amida statue at Byôdô-in, the Shichijô studio created a number of the most politically prominent Buddhist sculptures of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had the studio, under studio head Kôshô, produce a Great Buddha (daibutsu), for the temple Hôkô-ji, as well as commissioning the studio to take part in the reconstruction of Enryaku-ji.

The Shichijô studio then went on to work for the Tokugawa shogunate, producing in 1631 a Yakushi Triad and sculptures of the Twelve Heavenly Generals for the temples at Nikkô, and, it is believed, a sculpture of Amida and two of Kannon for Nikkô's Rinnô-ji in 1645. After the Hôkô-ji was destroyed in a fire, the Shichijô studio, headed by Genshin at that time, was commissioned to produce a replacement for the lost Daibutsu.

The head of the studio in 1671 was named Kôjô. Under his leadership, at that time, the studio produced a large Shaka statue for use in ceremonies associated with the 21st anniversary of the death of Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu.

References

• Timon Screech, Obtaining Images, University of Hawaii Press (2012), 102-103.