In the context of this artwork, discuss the Origin of the Koa Kannon statue of the History.
General Iwane Matsui who commanded the Shanghai Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War built the Koa Kannon statue after retiring from the service in 1940 to honor the officers and men of both China and Japan who fell in battle in the name of consecrating equally both friend and enemy. The statue was made using clay from battlefields, including from the vicinity of Nanjing where Matsui served. On 24 February 1940 the consecration ceremony was performed in the presence of Tessui Oshima, a high-ranking Jodo Buddhist monk from Zojo-ji, and other distinguished figures. Then Matsui moved into a retreat he built nearby and he used to ascend the mountain every morning to give the kannon sutra.
In 1944 another monument was erected called the “Bodhi for the Warriors Who Fell in Battle in the Great Pacific War” which honors all the war dead in the Pacific theater.
Iwane Matsui Pacific War kannon sutra Shanghai Expeditionary Force Jodo Zojo-ji Nanjing Second Sino-Japanese War Kannon Pacific theater