Detail: Buddhist sutras explain that donating to projects like paintings and sculptures was a way for Buddhist devotees to accumulate good karma for themselves and their loved ones. Through this, they could be reassured of a good rebirth in a Buddhist paradise.

This exhibition emphasizes the production of Buddhist visual culture across Asia and situates Japan’s Buddhist art within that context. By displaying Buddhist sculptures and paintings alongside the materials and tools that would have been used to create them, we show that Buddhist art is the result of skilled labor and quality materials.