JOCHO

died 1057, Japan Amida Myorai by Jocho, 1053, Heian period. Wood covered with gold leaf on a polychrome wood lotus great Japanese Buddhist sculptor who developed and perfected so-called kiyoseho, or joined-wood techniques. The son (or pupil) of a famous sculptor, Kosho, Jocho chiefly worked for Fujiwara Michinaga, de facto ruler of Japan at that time, and his clan. In 1022 he was awarded the Buddhist title of hokkyo, an unprecedented honour for a Buddhist sculptor, for various sculptures he had contributed to the Hojo Temple in Kyoto. Later he was rewarded by an even more exalted title for sculptures made for the Fujiwaras' family temple, Kofuku Temple, in Nara. He was also instrumental in improving the social position of Buddhist sculptors by organizing a guild, which came to be called Bussho, or the Buddhist sculpture studio. The Amida (Amitabha) of the Hoo-do (Phoenix Hall), of the Byodo Temple at Uji, near Kyoto, is his only extant work. Carved in 1053, it embodies tranquillity and gracefulness, effects achieved by Jocho's brilliant use of the joined-wood technique.