Ushiku Daibutsu

Ushiku Daibutsu, the giant statue of Amida Nyorai, was completed in 1992 and its official name is Ushiku Amida Daibutsu. It is 120m-tall (including the 20m-high platform) and registered in the Guinness Book as the world’s tallest “bronze Buddha statue.”

Reverend Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of Jodo Shinshu sect, set the base in the Hitachi Province (current Ibaraki) and extended the missionary work into the Kanto area. Since Ibaraki Prefecture is associated with Reverend Shinran, Jodo Shinshu sect’s headquarter, Higashi Honganji temple financed the giant statue. It weighs 4000 tons, the left hand is 18m-long, the face, 20m, each eye, 2.5m, the mouth, 4m, each ear, 10m, the index finger, 7m, and the nose is 1.2m-tall; an astounding scale.

You can see inside the statue, which has 5 stories. The 1st floor is the World of Light that depicts the light shining into worldly cares. The 2nd floor is the World of Chionhotoku (Benevolence). The 3rd floor is the World of Rengezo (Lotus Matrix) with nearly 3,400 Antenatal Buddhas. The 4th and 5th floors are the Space of Mt. Ryojusen where Busshari (the ashes of Buddha) is kept. Above the 5th floor, The observation floor at the chest of the statue is 85m-high with a marvelous view over the Kanto Valley.

At the foot of the Buddha statue, almost 10,000m² Jodo Garden spreads, where Cherry blossoms and creeping phlox in spring, hydrangea in summer and cosmos in fall, etc. delight visitors.