The Seki City Horado Enku Memorial Museum is a museum in Seki, Gifu Prefecture, dedicated to the Buddhist sculptures of Enku, a Buddhist monk of the Edo period (1603–1868). Enku is renowned for his distinctive wooden Buddhist statues, characterized by expressive faces and a remarkable sense of movement.
The museum displays approximately 50 statues by Enku, including two of his representative works: a statue of Fudo Myoo, the Buddhist deity associated with wisdom and protection, and a statue of Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life.
Visitors can also explore materials documenting Enku’s life and the techniques he used to create his sculptures.
Enku was a Tendai Buddhist monk who lived during the early Edo period. While traveling throughout Japan on his religious journeys, he is believed to have visited the nearby Koga Shrine to practice ascetic disciplines.
Koga Shrine preserves numerous Buddhist statues dedicated by Enku, including a statue of Kangiten, the deity of bliss, which is said to have been his final sculptural work. These statues are collectively known as the Enku Buddhist Sculptures Passed Down at Koga Shrine and are designated cultural properties of Gifu Prefecture.
The museum was established to exhibit these sculptures, along with other cultural properties from the former Horado Village, including items associated with Koga Shrine.
Following the incorporation of Horado Village into Seki City, the city came to have both this museum and the Seki City Enku Museum, another facility displaying Enku’s Buddhist sculptures. Their roles differ: the Horado Enku Memorial Museum focuses on the sculptures and cultural properties associated with the former village, while the other museum regularly rotates its displays of Enku sculptures held throughout the city.