Setsuo Imazu of the Kyushu National Museum was greatly impressed and surprised when he viewed a nearly complete replica of a seated statue of Kukai in July because it so closely resembled the original, which is kept at Kongobuji, the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, on Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture.
Kukai (774-835) was the Japanese monk who founded the Shingon, or "True Word," school of Buddhism. He is also known as Kobo-Daishi, or the grand master who propagated the Buddhist teaching.
The 83.5-cm-tall statue is believed to have been made sometime between the 14th and 17th centuries. Kongobuji decided to produce a replica in time for the 1,200th anniversary in 2015 of the founding of Mount Koya as a monastic center by Kukai.