Nyoirin Kannon

This figure is of Nyoirin Kannon, a form of the bodhisattva Kannon whom Buddhists believe 'listens to the voices of the world' and to whom they look for the granting of wishes.

Its distinguishing features are its six arms--three of which hold a lotus, a wheel of the law of reincarnation and a rosary--and its characteristic pose. The image is carved from volcanic stone and is inscribed 'made for the lady believer Jôoku Isei on the twentieth day of the seventh month of the eighth year of Empô', a date equivalent to 1680.