Carving Buddhist sculptures is a very tough discipline as seen in this riveting documentary from Yujiro Seki.

The art of Busshi, involving Buddhist woodcarving, has been a tradition in Japan for over 1400 years. It takes a very disciplined apprenticeship and a strict regime of learning the trade on your own with the assistance of the master, the koun or kourin. We meet Koun Seki, the latest generation of masters who have excelled in Busshi and upon meeting a group of new apprentices ready to keep the legacy of the art going at his school, warns them it will be no easy task.

Busshi is a discipline that takes precision, quality, and speed. For this new group of apprentices, some have risen to the occasion while others begin to feel the wrath of Koun Seki, who we see talking down on an apprentice for not bringing enough tools to their table. We see an apprentice show another how to properly sharpen chisel blades necessary for carving. Koun Seki could be said to be similar to that of the Peking Opera masters who discipline their students with the big difference being that Seki doesn’t become physically abusive towards his apprentices. 

As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite. In a very emotional scene in a restaurant after a public performance involving one of his higher apprentices as a fellow kourin, Seki explains that he doesn’t like to talk down on his students for no reason. He feels that his methods of discipline will eventually help the apprentices rise up and achieve the levels they need to keep the legacy of Busshi going. 

We even get to meet one of the apprentices, who is working on carving a Buddhist figure and has his fears. However, he is determined to make the figure and win the approval of Kourin Saito, who is the master of Koun Seki. There is even a great conversation between the former master and apprentice with Seki thanking Saito for his mentorship over the course of 19 years as well as a brief look at his life at home. 

We even take a rare look at the rituals performed at Buddhist temples. Ones that are normally excluded to the public, but to get this rare look at these rituals with the support of the Busshi’s hard work. This comes when we see a group of apprentices under the leadership of Seki work on a major project of a Buddhist statue that shows the hard work and discipline the apprentices have learned as a true test of their skills. 

Carving the Divine is a fascinating look at a 1400-year art that has lived on for generations and the hard work and discipline from both viewpoints of master and apprentice. If art is your thing, then this documentary is definitely worth checking out.

WFG RATING: A

A Yujiro Seki production. Director: Yujiro Seki. Producer: Yujiro Seki. Cinematography: Yujiro Seki. Editing: Yujiro Seki.

Cast: Kourin Saito, Koun Seki.