Rakan was sculpted by Shoun Genkei between 1688 and 1695. The Medium is wood with the yosegi technique, along with decorations of bright colors, black lacquer, and gold leaf. All of the statues are disciples of Buddha. Genkei was directly inspired by the Chinese sculpture Fan Daosheng. Daosheng had followed the Zen priest Ingen to Japan and created a number of sculptures at Manpukuji in the 1660s. Genkei left Kyoto and became a wandering priest in order to find a place to sculpt to five hundred 'rakan'. The location offered to Genkei was by an abbot of the Oubaku sect at Gohyaku Rakanji (Temple of the Five Hundred Arharts). It took Genkei eight years, from 1688 to 1695, with support from the shogun Tsunayoshi to complete his rakans. Genkei’s rakans were different from Daosheng’s, in the sense that Genkei’s exibit a very Japanese feeling of the original wood typical of the Buddhist sculptures of the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods. Additionally, although some of the figures are quite exaggerated in form, there is still a quality about them that appears to be closer to Japanese naturalism. However, Gohyaku Rakanji has been moved several times, and of the five hundred statues only three hundred and five still exists. In 1981 it was rebuilt. Arhat (rakan) is a Sankrit word meaning people who deserve being worshipped and contributed with food as they have completed hard training required to become a Buddha. Other words for Arhat include, Arhant, lohan, Arakan, Arhan, Arahat, Arihat, and Arihan.