- Daibutsu
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Daibutsu in bronze at Kōtoku-in, Kamakura (c.1252); National Treasure; hand-coloured print by Adolfo Farsari
Daibutsu (大仏; kyūjitai 大佛) or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese term, often used informally, for large statues of Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera (609) and the best-known those of Tōdai-ji in Nara (752) and Kōtoku-in in Kamakura (c.1252), both National Treasures.[1][2]
Contents
Examples
Image Name Buddha Size Date Municipality Prefecture Comments 
Shōwa Daibutsu (昭和大仏)[3] 21.35 metres (70.0 ft) 1984 Aomori Aomori Prefecture Ganmen Daibutsu (岩面大仏) 16.5 metres (54.1 ft) Hiraizumi Iwate Prefecture Low relief carving at Takkoku no Iwa (達谷窟) 
Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏)[4] Amida Nyorai 120 metres (393.7 ft) including base and lotus (20 metres (65.6 ft)) 1993 Ushiku Ibaraki Prefecture Japan's largest daibutsu 
Nihon-ji Daibutsu (日本寺大仏)[5] Yakushi Nyorai 31.05 metres (101.9 ft) Edo period Kyonan Chiba Prefecture Carved in the 1780s and 90s by Jingoro Eirei Ono and his apprentices and restored to its present form in 1969. Japan's largest pre-modern (and largest stone-carved) daibutsu. The same site is also home to another large Buddha carving, the Hyakushaku Kannon[citation needed] 
Kamagaya Daibutsu (鎌ヶ谷大仏) 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), including base (0.5 metres (1.6 ft)) Kamagaya Chiba Prefecture Japan's smallest daibutsu[citation needed] 
Former Ueno Daibutsu (上野大仏)[6] Shaka Nyorai 1631 Taitō Tokyo Heavily damaged in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and melted down for the war effort 
Tokyo Daibutsu (東京大仏)[7] 13 metres (42.7 ft) including base 1977 Itabashi Tokyo Weighs thirty tons; at Jōren-ji (乗蓮寺); erected in expiation of the Great Kantō earthquake and the war 
Kamakura Daibutsu (鎌倉大仏)[8] Amida Nyorai 13.35 metres (43.8 ft) c.1252 Kamakura Kanagawa Prefecture Subject of the poem The Buddha at Kamakura by Rudyard Kipling; National Treasure 
Takaoka Daibutsu (高岡大仏) Amida Nyorai 15.85 metres (52.0 ft) 1981 Takaoka Toyama Prefecture At Daibutsu-ji (大佛寺) Echizen Daibutsu (越前大仏)[9] 17 metres (55.8 ft) Katsuyama Fukui Prefecture Gifu Daibutsu (岐阜大仏)[10] Shaka Nyorai 13.63 metres (44.7 ft) 1828 Gifu Gifu Prefecture 
Former Hōkō-ji Daibutsu 1660s Kyoto Kyoto Prefecture Sketch of c.1691 by Engelbert Kaempfer 
Nara Daibutsu (奈良大仏)[11] Vairocana 14.98 metres (49.1 ft) 752 Nara Nara Prefecture Restored several times; part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara; National Treasure 
Asuka Daibutsu (飛鳥大仏)[2][12] Shaka Nyorai 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) 609 Asuka Nara Prefecture Japan's oldest daibutsu and Buddhist statue, restored; Important Cultural Property 
Former Hyōgo Daibutsu (兵庫大仏)[13] 1891 Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture At Nōfuku-ji (能福寺); melted down in 1944 for the war effort[citation needed] and since replaced See also
- Japanese sculpture
- List of National Treasures of Japan (sculptures)
References
- ^ "Daibutsu". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/d/daibutsu.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Sandaibutsu". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sandaibutsu.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Shōwa Daibutsu". Seiryū-ji. http://www.showa-daibutu.com/. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Ushiku Daibutsu". Ushiku Daibutsu. http://www.ushikukankou.com/ushikudaibutsu_sugao.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Nihonji Daibutsu". Nihon-ji. http://www.nihonji.jp/revival/index.html. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Ueno Daibutsu". Daily Yomiuri. 30 March 2010. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/siseki/20100413-OYT8T00589.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Tokyo Daibutsu". Itabashi Ward. http://www.city.itabashi.tokyo.jp/c_kurashi/003/003913.html. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Database of National Cultural Properties". Agency for Cultural Affairs. http://www.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails.asp?register_id=201&item_id=270. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ Katsuyama History "Katsuyama Profile". Katsuyama City. http://www.city.katsuyama.fukui.jp/english/english.html Katsuyama History. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
- ^ Gifu Shouhouji Daibutsu "Gifu Shouhouji Daibutsu (Great Buddha)". Shōhō-ji. http://www.gifu-daibutsu.com/shohoji/english.html Gifu Shouhouji Daibutsu. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
- ^ "Database of National Cultural Properties". Agency for Cultural Affairs. http://www.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails.asp?register_id=201&item_id=271. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Database of National Cultural Properties". Agency for Cultural Affairs. http://www.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails.asp?register_id=201&item_id=4256. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ "Daibutsu Hyogo". Nagasaki University Library. http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en/target.php?id=1044. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
External links
- Photographs and information on famous Daibutsu
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery, early photograph of Kamakura Daibutsu from rear
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery, early photograph of Hyōgo Daibutsu
Daibutsu 
Colossal Buddha statues Anshan Jade Buddha · Avukana Buddha statue · Buddha Dordenma statue · Buddha Park · Buddhas of Bamyan · Buduruvagala · Gal Vihara · Gifu Great Buddha · Grand Buddha at Ling Shan · Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya · Kamagaya Great Buddha · Kōtoku-in · Leshan Giant Buddha · Maitreya Project · Maligawila Buddha statue · Sala Keoku · Spring Temple Buddha · Tian Tan Buddha · Tōdai-ji · Ushiku Daibutsu · Great Buddha of ThailandCategories:- Colossal Buddha statues
- Buddhist sculpture
- Japanese sculpture
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