This statue was excavated from the Hachigatamine sutra mound on Iki island located in the Genkai-nada. The figure was carved from a single piece of talc rock. Sutra scrolls were contained in a square hole at the bottom of the statue, which means that this statue was made as a container for sutra scrolls—which is a rare case. An inscription is engraved into the surface of the statue between the shoulder and the hip part. The inscription begins with the statement of the date, which is 1071, and asserts that the Hoke-kyō (Lotus sutra) had been enclosed in this statue with the expectation that Miroku (Maitreya) would emerge in this world in the future. The figure's hair is curly. Both of its shoulders and arms are covered by the garment, and its hands display the Hokkai-jōin finger sign. The figure is seated cross-legged with its right leg on top. The lotus seat was made from a separate slab of talc rock. The leg part of this statue is small because talc had to be used economically. But the modeling of the body is by and large robust, revealing the characteristics of statues made during the first half of the late Heian period. One noteworthy aspect of this statue is that the symbols of the nine classes of people after death and the names of some people are carved into the top of the lotus seat, implying the mixture of the worship of Miroku and Amida (Amitābha). 
Masterpieces of Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1993, p.134, no.108.