Kei school

The Kei school (慶派, Kei-ha^?) was a Japanese school (style) of Buddhist sculpture which emerged in the early Kamakura period (c. 1200). Based in Nara, it was the dominant school in Buddhist sculpture in Japan into the 14th century, and remained influential until the 19th. Art historian Joan Stanley Baker cites the Kei school's early works as the last highpoint in the history of Japanese sculpture.

The Kei school developed out of that led by the busshi (Buddhist sculptor) Jōchō, his successor Kakujō, and Kakujō's son Raijō, the leading sculptors of the preceding generations. These artists are sometimes said to have founded the Kei school; however, the school would not come into its own, and become associated with the name "Kei" until Raijō was succeeded by Kōkei and Unkei around the year 1200. Unkei's six sons and their descendants in turn later succeeded to leadership of the school.

Much of the cities of Nara and Kyoto were destroyed in the Genpei War of 1180-1185. The Kei school was granted the opportunity to restore Nara's greatest temples, the Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji, replacing their Buddhist sculptures. The Kei school's strong and traditional style earned it the favor of the Kamakura shogunate; the school also lacked the Imperial political ties that the In school and En school had, and was thus selected by the shogunate for this honor, catapulting the school to great success and influence.

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