Kurume Giant Kannon

 

Since I first sighted the giant Kannon statues near Kurume, it still took a couple of hours walking to reach it.

It is  203 feet tall, which by my reckoning makes it the 5th tallest statue in Japan. It was completed in 1982 and cost about 50 million USD.

It is in the grounds of a branch temple of the famous Narita-San in Chiba. Without meaning any disrespect, my impression was that it was more like a Buddhist Theme Park than a temple.

As with many of the giant statues in Japan it is possible to climb stairs within the statues to an observation deck that has windows with views over the surrounding countryside.

Kannon is a Bodhisatva and comes in a multitude of forms. The version here is a Jibo Kannon, representing motherly love.

In East Asia Kannon is usually female, but in south and southeast Asia it is usually a male. There was a lot to see at Kurume Naritasan-ji, so that will be in later posts.