Ninki, one of Ganjin's disciples, who mourned his master's death, made the sculpture of Ganjin (Dakkatsu-kanshitsu [hollow dry lacquer: A method of making lacquer statues, popular in the Nara period], colored; a technique to form a framework of statue by layering of lacquered hemp cloth, and the both hands are carved in wood), which the Toshodai-ji Temple has preserved until today (Statue of Ganjin in Toshodai-ji Temple, national treasure) and is said the first portrait sculpture in Japan.
死去を惜しんだ弟子の忍基は鑑真の彫像（脱活乾漆彩色麻布を漆で張り合わせて骨格を作る手法両手先は木彫）を造り、現代まで唐招提寺に伝わっている（国宝唐招提寺鑑真像）が、これが日本最初の肖像彫刻とされている。