Koshi Kawachi's Buddha Sculpted Out of Kids’ Snacks

September 25, 2013

Koshi Kawachi's Buddha Sculpted Out of Kids’ Snacks

MODERN JAPAN TIMES
By Kanami Otomitsu

JAPAN---For several years artist Koshi Kawachi has been putting a favorite children’s snack called “umaibo” to an unusual use — sculpting the puffed corn sticks into little statues of the Buddha. At his home in Tokyo he has 107 of these “Umaibutsu” (“Tasty Buddha”) under a glass case. Kawachi sculpted these five years ago. The number is one short of the 108 earthly desires of Buddhism, and although he continues to create the final piece, he says he always yields to greed and ends up eating it. The 40-year-old artist models the statues on those crafted by Enku, a monk and sculptor from the Edo Period known for creating wooden Buddha statues with humorous expressions. [link]

Artist and his stacked Buddha scultpures

Comments

Ernest Disney-Britton said…

In Buddhism teaches that there are 4 Sufferings that cannot be avoided: birth, old age, sickness, and death – but also recognizes there are many more that cause us problems daily. How many? 108 to be specific (smile), and not only does this work illustrate the principle of 108 but the fact that the artist cant resist eating #108 also illustrates the point. Most of our suffering is of our own choice. These are called our "Earthly Desires" and we choose our emotional reaction to these desires. As I understand it, the cheif goal of Buddhism is to rid ourselves of earthly desire, and in doing so we will reach a pure state of nirvana. The more you learn about Buddhism, the more compelling is the case for learning from its teachings, and from its art. The following link takes you to a list of the 108:

http://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a12500545/the_108_earthly_desires_of_buddhism

Wed Sep 25, 10:05:00 AM EDT