An artist from the Netherlands is collaborating with local residents and fellow artists to rebuild the gate of an abandoned temple in a remote part of Japan. The restoration project, incorporating Blue Nio Delftware techniques, has been ongoing since 2018. A dedication ceremony for the reconstructed gate is planned for October 2025
Yokota (Okuizumo) ― In 2013, Jikke van Loon, a sculptor of Holland, became captivated by a pair of wooden Buddhist guardian statues, known as Agyo and Ungyo, displayed at the Rijksmuseum, the national art museum of the Netherlands. Originally from Japan, these statues, called Nio (Agyo and Ungyo), intrigued her with their intense gazes and exquisite craftsmanship. Their curves and dynamic forms resonated with her artistic style, but what struck her most were the statues’ powerful expressions and the delicate details around their jaws. Moreover, they conveyed a spiritual depth that felt profoundly compelling.
The museum’s explanation, accompanied by Sanskrit inscriptions, described Agyo and Ungyo as symbols of the beginning and end of this world. Passing between these statues signified transportation into the world of wisdom encompassing all knowledge and compassion. However, Jikke also felt a sense of sorrow, as these figures, displayed in front of a museum wall, appeared to have been deprived of their sacred purpose.
The following year, the Amsterdamer moved to Kyoto for an art programme and took the opportunity to visit Yokota Town in Shimane Prefecture, the birthplace of the Nio statues. She called on Iwaya-ji Temple, where the guardians once stood, to express her gratitude. While reading a letter aloud in English, she was approached by a local man who offered to translate her words into Japanese, so the temple’s deity could understand her appreciation. The moment seemed like receiving an oracle as if guided by the wisdom world. This unexpected encounter inspired her to delve deeper into the intertwined destiny of the statues and their birthplace.
Yokota hamlet, a part of Okuizumo cho, Shimane Prefecture, nestled in the Chugoku Mountains of western Honshu, preserves pastoral landscapes often described as authentic Japan, with its serene rice paddies and pristine nature. The name Yokota originates from the area’s four-tiered expansive terraces of rice paddies (the word Yoko in Japanese refers to something wide or extensive, while ta means rice paddies). With a population of 2,300, the town also serves as the backdrop to ancient Japanese myths. One tale recounts a brave god vanquishing an eight-headed serpent to bring peace to ancient Japan—imagery perhaps inspired by the surrounding mountains, which seem to shift with the earth’s rumble. This mystical geography may have attracted the esoteric Shingon Buddhism, leading to establishing the Iwaya-ji Temple in 756 as a spiritual base for regional peace and national protection. During its heyday in the 14th century, the temple erected the Nio statues at its gate, known as Niomon. It stood for 700 years, marking the boundary between secular society and the realm of wisdom. However, after World War II, Iwaya-ji fell into decline and was officially abandoned in the 1950s; the statues went missing in the 1970s.
The Dutch artist began visiting Yokota occasionally, deepening her connection with the community as she was fascinated by Yokota’s blue skies, rustic landscape, and the warmth of the locals. Upon showing a movie about the eye-opening ceremony of the Nio from Yokota held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on October 13, 2013, she heard the murmur and felt the void created by the disappearance of the Nio statues. While it was not possible to return the original statues themselves, it was possible to bring back their memories. Driven by this sense of mission, she launched a community art project in 2018 to bring back the spirit of the Nio statues to their homeland. Titled Issho-ni/Tomo-ni: (Re)-Creating Pure Wisdom Together, the initiative involved 450 participants from both the Netherlands and Yokota, who recreated the statues in intricate blue-and-white tiles using Delftware techniques. These tiles, known as the Blue Nio, represent Agyo and Ungyo and were kilned at the Shimane Rehabilitation College. They are now displayed in a Yokota community hall.
Meanwhile, ownership of the abandoned Iwaya-ji Temple remained a mystery for decades, complicating efforts to restore the site. After three years of investigation, the Dutch Foundation Niomon, in collaboration with GIA Niomon, acquired the land in 2023 so as to advance her and her friends’ Niomon Project. She has now been reconstructing the temple’s gate, which has fallen into ruin, and will install the works made with Delftware where the original once stood to resume their duties. A consecration ceremony is scheduled for 13th October 2025, coinciding with the ceremony for the wooden statues in Amsterdam.
‘I want to regenerate the connection between people and the world of wisdom and compassion via the Blue Nio, standing at the Nio Gate—not through the power of religion, but through art’, Jikke explains.
Since then, the project has evolved into a vibrant platform for cultural exchange. Artists from the Netherlands, including Jikke’s niece, now visit Yokota, while students from both regions participate in homestay programmes, forging lifelong bonds. A picture book featuring Agyo and Ungyo has also been published in the Netherlands. Through the synergy of art, tradition, and friendship, the Blue Nio bridges the people of Yokota and Amsterdam, fostering enduring connections.
The Buddhist key concept of dependent origination, known as Engi in Japanese and pratītya-samutpāda in Sanskrit, can be interpreted as the idea that everything is interconnected. In other words, for something to occur, there must be a cause, and thanks to Engi, it is through that cause that a result comes into being. The connections made by Jikke van Loon are now bearing fruit, creating new links where art and tradition transcend national borders, guiding us toward a world of wisdom that encompasses all knowledge and compassion.
(Words by Takashi Saito)
Visiting Yokota
Yokota Hamlet is just a 1.5-hour flight from TTokyo’sHaneda Airport to Izumo Airport, followed by a one-hour drive along Route 314, from which it is hard to miss from the road as the rugged peaks curtain the horizon. For those seeking a more leisurely journey, a nine-hour expedition aboard the Shinkansen and local railways provides an opportunity to savour the scenic beauty. Alternatively, Sunrise Izumo, a night sleeper train, along with a regional train (the Kisuki Line), promise a captivating 14-hour journey, allowing passengers to embark on a timeless discovery.