is a statue located in

Ushiku is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 84,675 in 35,082 households and a population density of 1437 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 29.5%. The total area of the ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Completed in 1993, it stands a total of tall, including the base and 10m lotus platform. The statue held the record for the tallest statue from 1993 to 2008. , it is one of the top five tallest statues in the world. An elevator takes visitors up to an observation floor. The statue depicts Amitabha Buddha and is made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. It is also known as Ushiku ARCADIA (Amida's Radiance and Compassion Actually Developing and Illuminating Area). It was built to commemorate the birth of

Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of ...

, founder of the

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

浄土真宗 or "True Pure Land School" of Buddhism.

Construction

Construction was commissioned to , applying . First, a cast iron steel column was elected at the center supporting the weight of the entire Daibutsu. Then, arranging a steel frame structure around it which was pre-assembled on the ground block by block in advance. The 100 meter high torso, or body, of the statue was divided into 20 tiers, with each tier consisting of 17 blocks on average. In addition, each component block had welded on 9

sheets, 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters and around 6 millimeters thick, on a steel frame. Those steel frames connected to the main frame as branches of a tree do, forming a complicated outline. The bronze sheets are much lighter compared to that of the Great Buddha at

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

temple in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

, since the one at Ushiku applies steel frame to support the structure. The elaborate design of each hand and arm was also assembled on the ground, then attached on the body with a huge crane lifting each parts.

Details

*Weight: *Length of Left Hand: *Length of Face: *Length of Eye: *Length of Mouth: *Length of Nose: *Length of Ear: *Length of the First Finger: Inside the statue itself is a four-story building, which serves as a museum. ; Level 1, Infinite Light and Infinite Life : The first floor lobby is dark. In the center of the room a single shaft of light shines from above onto a cauldron of smoking incense. Beyond it is the elevator to the other floors. ; Level 2 (10.0 m), World of Gratitude and Thankfulness : Mostly dedicated to scriptural studies ; Level 3 (20~30.0 m), World of the Lotus Sanctuary : 3000 samples of gold Buddha statues ; Level 4 (80~85.0 m), Room of Mt. Grdhrakuta : Also on the fourth floor are windows looking out from the buddha's chest onto the adjacent flower garden and small animal park.

References

External links

*
Tallest statues
by

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

1993 establishments in Japan 1993 sculptures Bronze Buddha statues Bronze sculptures in Japan Cultural infrastructure completed in 1993 Buildings and structures in Ibaraki Prefecture Buddhist temples in Ibaraki Prefecture Colossal Buddha statues in Japan Outdoor sculptures in Japan Statues in Japan Tourist attractions in Ibaraki Prefecture Pure Land temples Jōdo Shin temples {{Japan-sculpture-stub

Construction

Details

See also

References

External links