. landmarks of esoteric art in japan 923
(Jūichimen Kannon ), Nāgārajuna (Ryūju ), and
Āryāvalokiteśvara (Shōkannon ). Above and below the central
lotus are various other esoteric deities associated with the region such
as Rāgarāja (Aizen, ) and Zaō. The Kamakura-period painting
from Kōzanji is generally considered the most outstanding example
of this mandara. Another type of Kumano Mandara, similar to the
Kasuga Mandara of 1300, has the Shintō deities of the three main
shrines in Buddhist form arranged in a row above each of the shrine
compounds depicted against a landscape background, as seen in the
Kamakura-period Kumano Mandara in the Cleveland Museum of Art
collection.
There are also a number of esoteric sculptures extant from the Kama-
kura period, such as the Acalanātha Triad by Unkei (1151–1223)
from 1186 installed in the Ganjōjuin in Kamakura, along with the cen-
tral sculpture of Amitābha flanked on the opposite side by a standing
figure of Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamonten, ).This image was made
in supplication for Minamoto no Yoritomo’s success in defeating the
Ōshu Fujiwara (Azuma kagami, section 1189/6/6; Kuno 2001, 15,
17–18, 20). At the Daigoji there is a seated figure of Acalanātha by
Kaikei (active 1183–1236) dated to 1203. This famous duo of
artists, known for their powerful sculptures of the two guardian figures
at Tōdaiji, created many other important sculptures of the Kamakura
period.
Esoteric images continued to be made along similar lines into the
Edo period and have had a lasting effect even to today. The priest
Tenkai (1536–1643) established the five colored-eye sculptures of
Acalanātha in Edo (present Tokyo) during the time of the third sho-
gun Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651) at five different temples to protect
the five quadrants of the city. Two of the Tokyo Yamanote-line train
stations, Mejiro and Meguro , are named after the white-
eyed Acalanātha at Jigenji and the black-eyed Acalanātha at
Ryūsenji , respectively; the latter is designated a National Trea-
sure. Thus such images remain part of contemporary Japanese culture.