yōraku 瓔珞

1　A string of beads or lacework used to decorate Buddhist statues and objects. Often found on Bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩, and thought to be derived from ornaments worn by Indian nobility. Usually made with jewels and precious metals on string or wire, and placed around the neck of a statue, fixed to garments on the chest, or hung from the *kyōshoku 胸飾 (chest ornament). Yōraku sometimes hung from the waist down the skirt mo 裳, or over the knees of seated figures. They were also hung from the crown *hōkan 宝冠, canopy *tengai 天蓋, or over the pedestal *daiza 台座. On wooden figures yōraku were sometimes carved from the same block of wood as the main figure, and they were modeled in lacquer on dry lacquer figures *kanshitsu 乾漆. Original metal and jeweled ornaments on many ancient statues were lost, and thus replacements were made in the Edo period. Yōraku made from the same material as the main statue were less prone to loss than attached decorations. Examples include the 7th-century bronze Shōkannon 聖観音 in Yakushiji 薬師寺, and the 8th-century dry lacquer *Fukūkenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 in Tōdaiji 東大寺, both in Nara, which both have yōraku on the chest and hanging down the skirt.

2　Also yodarekake よだれ掛け. Lit. "bib." A molded decoration hanging from the edges of a Buddhist canopy *tengai 天蓋, the eaves of a Buddhist hall *butsudō 仏堂, and the barge and rafter tips of early western-style buildings in Japan. Yōraku were often made of wood and decorated with a series of flower and jewel motif.