This youthful and vigorous work was strongly influenced by Kokei, whose own style was based on the naturalism of the Nara period. A sculpture of Miroku in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is signed 'Busshi Kaikei' (Buddhist Sculptor Kaikei) and dated 1189. The first phase lasted from 1189 (possibly earlier) until 1192. Three phases of stylistic development in Kaikei's work have been identified. It is therefore possible to establish a chronology for the evolution of his style.

Of the forty or so that survive, at least twenty-three are signed many are also dated by inscription. Kaikei, who is thought to have been a pupil of Kōkei, Unkei's father, and to have been slightly older than Unkei, was atypical in that, unlike most Japanese sculptors of the premodern era, he signed many of his works. The other was Unkei (1151–1223), with whom Kaikei collaborated on sculptural projects commissioned for the monumental reconstruction in Nara of Tōdaiji and Kōfukuji. Kaikei was one of the two leading sculptors of the early Kamakura period. The name Ryō Amida Butsu, evidently that of another of Kaikei's close associates, is also found on works by Kaikei. Shinkai's name appears on a number of Kaikei's works. Of the other three names, two are those of the same sculptor-Shinkai, who seems to have called himself En Amida Butsu and who is thought to have been Kaikei's principal associate. In the middle of these names are the characters for 'An Amida Butsu,' the name used by the sculptor Kaikei (fl.ca.1183–1223). During a recent restoration, several inscriptions were discovered on the interior, including the names Shinkai, En Amida Butsu, and Ryō Amida Butsu (fig. The figure is hollow, and the crystal eyes are inlaid from the inside of the head. The Burke Jizō is carved from several blocks of Japanese cypress (hinoki) joined in the yosegi zukuri (multiple block) technique. He appears as well in the entourage of Amida Buddha in raigō paintings, accompanying the Amida as he descends to earth to welcome the dying into the Western Paradise. Occasionally, Jizō is depicted wearing shoes, also an allusion to his travels. The long staff sometimes held by this deity, as here, most likely alludes to his travels through the Six Realms Buddhist monks carried similar staffs when they collected alms. The Ōjoyōshū (Essentials of Pure Land Rebirth), a text written in 985 by the monk Genshin (942–1017), stimulated the growth of Jizō 's popularity by emphasizing the deity's role as a savior in the Six Realms of Reincarnation. More than ten Jizō sutras are preserved at Shōsōin, Nara, indicating that Japanese interest in Jizō dates at least to the mid-eighth century. One of the sutras describes his journey through the Six Realms of Reincarnation (J: rokudō), into which all sentient beings are destined to be born. Known as Jizō's Three Sutras, these teachings established Jizō's place in the Buddhist hierarchy as a savior who appears during the tenebrous period between the passing of Shaka and the coming of Miroku. While he never gained a large following there, his popularity grew in China, especially after three important sutras on Jizō worship were translated into Chinese during the Tang dynasty (618–907).

Like many Buddhist deities, Jizō was originally a Hindu god, incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon in India. In the tradition of bodhisattva figures, he may have worn a necklace. Nevertheless, his exalted status in the Buddhist pantheon is clearly indicated by the urna on his forehead and by his long earlobes. His shaved head and the long staff topped with metal rings give him the appearance of a monk rather than a bodhisattva, and like a monk he wears three robes, the outermost of which is a surplice suspended from the left shoulder. This small figure of Jizō Bosatsu (Skt: Kshitigarbha Womb of the Earth) grasps a staff in his right hand the fingers of the left hand, curled as though cupping a small object, must originally have held a wish-granting jewel.

Awaken realms staff