(b Nara region, 1151; d ?1223). Japanese sculptor. He was the son of KOKEI and a member of the KEI school of sculptors that flourished in the Kamakura period (1185–1333; see JAPAN, §V, 3(iv)). Unkei was the foremost exponent of a new sculptural style of the period. His earliest important work was the wooden statue of the Dainichi nyorai (Skt Mahavairocana tathagata; the Buddha who expounded Esoteric Buddhism) made in 1176 under the supervision of his father at the temple of Enjoji in Nara (in situ). This early image, with eyes of mounted crystal and deliberately irregular bold carving, already shows something of the naturalism that characterized Kamakura-period sculpture. In 1183 he transcribed the Hokuekyo or Myoho renge kyo (Lotus Sutra; Hyogo Prefecture, Ueno priv. col.). In 1186 he produced wooden statues (all extant) of Amida (Skt Amitabha; Buddha of the Western Paradise), Fudo myoo nidoji (Skt Acala; the Fudomyoo Triad) and Bishamonten (Skt Vaishravana; Guardian King of the North) at the request of the warrior Hojo no Tokimasa (1138–1215) for the Ganjojuin in Shizuoka. In the same year he made the wooden statue of the Miroku bosatsu (Skt the bodhisattva Maitreya) for the subtemple of Shogan’in at the Shoryakuji in Nara. In 1189 he was commissioned by the military leader Wada Yoshimori (1147–1213) to make wooden statues (all in situ) of the Amida sanzon (Amida Triad), Fudo myoo and Bishamonten for the temple of Jorakuji in Kanagawa. He was at this time in the priesthood at the Sooin at Kofukuji. In 1194 he assisted his brother Jokaku (b mid-12th century) and his colleague KAIKEI with the creation of the Niten (‘Two devas’) for the Chumon (Middle Gate) of the temple of Todaiji in Nara (see NARA, §III, 4(i)). He received the ecclesiastical rank of hogen in 1195. In 1196 he worked on the Shitenno (Skt Caturmaharajika; Four Guardian Kings) and the Attendants of the Todaiji Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) together with Kokei, Jokaku and Kaikei. In 1197–8 he repaired the statues (completed 839; most in situ) in the Early Heian period (794–early 10th century) Kodo (Lecture Hall) of the Kyoogokokuji (Toji) in Kyoto and also made the Nio (temple gate guardians) for the Nandaimon (Great Southern Gate) at that temple. He produced the Niten (‘Two devas’; in situ) for the Chumon at Jingoji in Kyoto. The Hachidaidoji (‘Eight attendants’; 1197) at Kongobuji in Wakayama; the 1201 Sho Kannon (Skt Arya Avalokiteshvara), the Bonten (Skt Brahmadeva) and the extant Taishakuten (Skt Shakra, one of the Buddhist tutelary gods) at Takisanji in Aichi, all wooden sculptures, are also attributed to Unkei.

• Unkei
  • Japan, §V, 1(i): Sculpture: Historical overview
  • Japan, §V, 3(iv): Buddhist sculpture: Kamakura period
  • Japan, §XVI, 15(ii)(b): Masks: Bugaku
  • Nara, §II: Art life and organization
  • collaboration
    • Kaikei
    • Kokei
  • groups and movements
    • Kei
  • works
    • Japan, §I, 2(iv)(a): History: Age of Military Houses: Kamakura
    • Japan, §V, 3(iii)(c): Buddhist sculpture: Late Heian period
    • Japan, §V, 3(iv)(a): Buddhist sculpture: Early Kamakura period
    • Japan, §V, 5(iv)(a): Portrait sculpture: Kamakura period: Introduction
    • Kongobuji, §2: AD 995–1523
    • Nara, §III, 4(i)(b): Todaiji: History and development, after AD 756
    • Nara, §III, 4(ii)(c): Buildings: Todaiji: Principal buildings and monuments: Other structures
    • Nara, §III, 7: Kofukuji