The is the smallest

Daibutsu or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese language, Japanese term, often used informally, for large Japanese sculpture, statues of List of Buddhas, Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera (609) and the best-known is that at Tōdai-ji in Nara, Nara, N ...

(Buddhist statue) in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is located in the city of Kamagaya,

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

, to the north of Tokyo.

History

The Kamagaya Daibutsu was commissioned by a wealthy local merchant, Okuniya Fukuda Bunemon, to pray for the souls of his ancestors. It was cast by Tagawa Shuzen, a noted foundry smith of Kanda in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

and It was completed in November 1776. It became the symbol of Kamagaya, and was protected by local residents against the movement to eradicate Buddhism of the early

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, and against efforts by the government to collect all available bronze for the war effort in World War II. It was designated as a cultural property of Kamagaya City in 1972. The statue remains property of the Fukuda family.

Measurements

* Total Height: ** Height of Statue: ** Height of Base:

Access

From

Funabashi Station is a railway station in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the private railway operator Tobu Railway. Lines Funabashi Station is served by the JR East Sōbu Main Line and from the ...

, board a bus towards Kamagaya-Daibutsu via Futawamichi (or board one towards Kamagaya-Daibutsu via Misaki Station). Alight at "Kamagaya-Daibutsu", the final stop. The nearest train station is Kamagaya-Daibutsu Station (

Keisei Matsudo Line The is a railway line in Japan owned by Keisei Electric Railway. The line runs between Matsudo Station in Matsudo, Chiba, and Keisei-Tsudanuma Station in Narashino, Chiba. The line, known as the Shin-Keisei Line from December 1947 until its m ...

). It takes approximately 24 minutes from Matsudo Station, 17 minutes from Shin-Tsudanuma Station and 21 minutes from Keisei-Tsudanuma Station. It is approximately one minute's walk from the Kamagaya-Daibutsu Station.

References

External links

Aerial view
{{Sculptures Buildings and structures in Chiba Prefecture Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Colossal Buddha statues in Japan Bronze Buddha statues Outdoor sculptures in Japan Kamagaya