The sculpture represents Amitabha, known in Japanese as Amida Nyorai, Buddha of Infinite Light. The Pure Land (Jodo) tradition in Japan emphasises the salvific powers of Amida; incantation of the Buddha’s name can invite divine intercession and devotion in life can insure rebirth in Amida’s Western Paradise. By the early eleventh century, it was increasingly believed that only the compassion of Amida could override the cycle of rise, decline and fall––the concept of mappo, meaning the end of the Law that would devolve into ten millennia of moral degradation and strife. By Japanese calculation, this would coincide with the year 1052.