Jikaku Daishi

This Edo-period wooden statue commemorates Ennin, the Buddhist monk who spent nine years traveling through Tang-dynasty China, returning in 847 with over 500 volumes of Chinese Buddhist literature and new religious practices. Ennin introduced the nenbutsu, the chanting of Amida Buddha's name for rebirth in the Pure Land, and brought a Chinese system of musical notation for sacred vocal performance. He is also credited with establishing both Motsuji and Chusonji temples in what is now Hiraizumi. As the third head abbot of the Tendai sect, his influence on Japanese Buddhism spread well beyond his own lifetime. The statue is housed in Morioka and represents one of the figures most responsible for shaping how Buddhism developed across Japan.