An eighth-century lacquered sculpture of Ashura, the Buddhist deity of war, reached superhero status last year when it was taken from Kofukuji Temple in Nara to be displayed at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, then later at the Kyushu National Museum in Fukuoka.
At both venues, visitors made huge, hourlong lines day after day just to get up close and personal with the famed slim figure with three faces and six hands — and with each face bearing a slightly different, enigmatic and nuanced expression.
The Tokyo show in particular, which ran from March 31 through June 7, drew huge crowds to view the designated National Treasure that was innovatively displayed and lit to be clearly visible from all sides without glass screens. Indeed, with its total attendance of 946,000, the exhibition became something of a social phenomenon in Japan — as well as being the most-viewed museum exhibit in the world in 2009, according to the Art Newspaper.