Byodo-in in Uji, in the south of Kyoto, was originally used as a rural villa by Fujiwara Michinaga and later transformed into a Buddhist temple by his eldest son Yorimichi in 1052 to prepare for the advent of the latter days -oof the Buddhist Law called “Mappo.” The main building, the Amida Hall, which is popularly known as the Phoenix Hall, was completed in the following year. In the center of the hall is a wooden seated Amida-nyorai statue covered with gold leaf, which was sculptured by Jocho, who perfected the Yosegizukuri style, a method of assembling several parts of sculpted wood.
(京都の南にある宇治の平等院は元々藤原道長の別荘を1052年に仙法の廃れる時代(末法)の到来に備えるために嫡男頼通が寺院に改めたものである。その翌年には鳳凰堂として知られている本堂の阿弥陀堂が落慶した。阿弥陀堂の中央には、寄木造という技法を完成させた仏師定朝によって彫られた金箔に覆われた木造阿弥陀如来坐像が安置されている)