But with two more faces and five and a half more arms

I don't know, from an art standpoint, if it is reasonable to compare the Buddhist statue of Ashura to the Venus de Milo. Venus is 600 years older, 50 cm taller, and a lot heavier. Ashura is a national treasure made of hollow "dry lacquer," which seems to be similar to a papier mache process using layers of cloth and lacquer, and is therefore incredibly fragile. Moving it to Tokyo for its 1300th anniversary was a delicate project.

The statue and dozen or so others are on special loan from Kohfukuji Temple. The exhibit at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno is heavily advertised and popular. I am not sure what exactly is bringing the crowds. It seems that it is always on display (for a thousand yen less) in Kyoto, which isn't that far away. And it's not... new.

I got out of work early on Friday and, at a friend's urging, went to see it. There was a fifty-minute line outside at four p.m., mostly retirees. It was sunny (the museum was lending parasols) and I had a crossword to work on, so it was a rare occasion when I didn't mind too much standing in line. I didn't even hate the crowd inside, maybe because everyone seemed so enthusiastic about seeing the art. Not that I'd complain if there were a little less elbow in that enthusiasm. The statues are all up on pedestals but there's no glass or even ropes around them, just eagle-eyed guards every few feet. Ashura itself is displayed alone in a separate room. When I was there, there was a dense coil five or six people thick around the base shuffling, as directed, "clockwise without stopping."

The uncanny thing for me was that as I circled around, the heads on the sides looked squished and small and sort of determinedly Warrior II. In the Sony hi-def megascreen short film about the temple and the statue itself, all the heads looked perfectly proportioned and more reposed. Same in the beautiful postcards at the gift shop. Maybe because you view it from a bit below in real life?

I wouldn't even think about going on a weekend. But if you can get there during the week, check it out. There are larger than life, fierier and brimstonier wooden statues, too.