National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

It is clear from the curved fingers of the statue's left hand that it was created as a Yakushi Nyorai statue holding a pot known as a Yakko. The style represented by the stocky body covered by dynamic clothes, full cheeks and an expression with wavy and slightly up-angled eyes is common to various statues created in the late Nara Period using a technique called Mokushin Kanshitu zukuri and therefore the era when the statue was created can be identified as being around the same time. The skirt-like cloth wrapped around the statue's lower body covers the lotus shaped base and droops down while being caught by the tips of the lotus petals. Although, this style is often seen in statues created in the Tang dynasty in China, very few such statues exist in Japan. This implies that this statue was created under the strong influence of statues from China.

The features of the body, including the cloth covering the lotus shaped base, are thickly made and the inside is hollowed out. Given that no surface plating can be seen and the roughness of the skin is noticeable, it is possible that the statue has been exposed to fire. The fingers of the right hand have been repaired.