Autumn Leaves at the Ushiku Daibutsu Statue

Autumn is here and the red leaves viewing season has started! Japanese love nothing more than the changing of the seasons so they take their autumn tree viewing almost as seriously as with the cherry blossom viewings in the spring. There are even companies organizing commercial bus tours to the best places to see the nature of Japan in its autumn glory! I took these photos at the great Ushiku Daibutsu statue in Ibaraki Prefecture last year.

Ushiku Daibutsu – The Big Buddha of Ibaraki

The Daibutsu (Big Buddha) of Ushiku City in Ibaraki to the north of Tokyo is the tallest buddha statue in Japan. The statue itself is 100m and stand it is placed on is 20m, for a total of 120m! It doesn’t look so large from the ground for some reason, but from the air it looks absolutely massive. It is also tall enough to be visible from the Sky Tree as far south as Tokyo. I did not know this but apparently every summer the statue is the focus of a fireworks festival which (looks) sounds amazing. One easy way of getting there from Tokyo is to take the train to Ushiku Station and then catch a local bus to the Daibutsu.

Ushiku Daibutsu – Tallest Buddha in Japan

Some of the more famous temples in Japan charge a small admission fee, and the temple “housing” the great Buddha of Ushiku in Ibaraki prefecture does as well, 300 yen I think it was. Although you can easily see the Ushiku Daibutsu for miles and miles around and on good days even from tall Tokyo towers it is interesting to get closer to it. I took these photos of the buddha and the entrance with the as usual interesting ema votive plates, most of them with prayers from students at the nearby Tsukuba University. More photos to come!

Ushiku Daibutsu – Ibaraki Big Buddha

The only manmade object in Ibaraki Prefecture visible from Tokyo is the huge Ushiku Daibutsu, a standing buddha statue that is so tall that on very clear days you can see it from the top of the Tokyo Skytree tower in Tokyo, about 50km to the south west. It is located in northern Ushiku City and visible for miles around, quite impressive. The statue itself is 100m and standing atop a 20m tall base. For comparison the American Statue of Liberty is 40m. More posts to come on this statue!