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The monk [[Joko|Jôkô]]<!--淨光-->, who had traveled the country collecting contributions, began construction of a wooden Great Buddha sculpture, and the Great Buddha Hall to house it, in the 3rd month of [[1238]]; the eye-opening ceremony was held on [[1243]]/6/11. This wooden sculpture was lost in a great storm in [[1247]], and construction began on a bronze replacement in [[1252]]; it is this bronze sculpture which survives today.<ref name=bura>"[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyokamakuradaibutu.htm Kôtoku-in (Kamakura Daibutsu)]." Kamakura-burabura.com.</ref>

The monk [[Joko|Jôkô]]<!--淨光-->, who had traveled the country collecting contributions, began construction of a wooden Great Buddha sculpture, and the Great Buddha Hall to house it, in the 3rd month of [[1238]]; the eye-opening ceremony was held on [[1243]]/6/11. This wooden sculpture was lost in a great storm in [[1247]], and construction began on a bronze replacement in [[1252]]; it is this bronze sculpture which survives today.<ref name=bura>"[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyokamakuradaibutu.htm Kôtoku-in (Kamakura Daibutsu)]." Kamakura-burabura.com.</ref>

Little is known about the sculptor (designer) of the Great Buddha, but stylistically it shows strong influence from [[Song Dynasty]] Chinese Buddhist sculpture, and from the [[Kei school]] of Japanese sculptors.<ref name=kotoku>"[http://www.kotoku-in.jp/characteristic.html Kamakura daibutsu no tokuchô]." Official website of Kôtoku-in. 2010.</ref>

Little is known about the sculptor (designer) of the Great Buddha, but stylistically it shows strong influence from [[Song Dynasty]] Chinese Buddhist sculpture, and from the [[Kei school]] of Japanese sculptors.<ref name=kotoku>"[http://www.kotoku-in.jp/characteristic.html Kamakura daibutsu no tokuchô]." Official website of Kôtoku-in. 2010.</ref> The bronze for the sculpture was likely obtained by melting down [[Song Dynasty]] [[Chinese currency|coins]]; the statue shares the exact same alloy content as Song currency.<ref>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant-Monk Network And The Reorientation Of East Asian Maritime Trade 1150-1300," talk given at UC Santa Barbara Confucius Institute, 17 May 2018.</ref>

The sculpture was originally located indoors, within a wooden ''daibutsuden'', or "Great Buddha Hall," but the hall was severely damaged by storms in [[1335]] and [[1369]]; a tsunami destroyed the hall in [[1498]], leaving the statue nearly completely undamaged. The statue has remained open to the sky since that time.<ref name=bura/> The 1923 Great Kantô Earthquake caused the Daibutsu to shift two feet, but then too it remained undamaged.

The sculpture was originally located indoors, within a wooden ''daibutsuden'', or "Great Buddha Hall," but the hall was severely damaged by storms in [[1335]] and [[1369]]; a tsunami destroyed the hall in [[1498]], leaving the statue nearly completely undamaged. The statue has remained open to the sky since that time.<ref name=bura/> The 1923 Great Kantô Earthquake caused the Daibutsu to shift two feet, but then too it remained undamaged.