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 is that at Tōdai-ji in Nara (752).[1] Tōdai-ji's daibutsu is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara and National Treasure.

Replica of Great Buddha of Kyoto
Ushiku Daibutsu at Ushiku

Examples

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ImageNameBuddhaSizeDateMunicipalityPrefectureComments
Shōwa Daibutsu (昭和大仏)[2]21.35 metres (70.0 ft)1984AomoriAomori Prefecture
Ganmen Daibutsu (岩面大仏)16.5 metres (54.1 ft)HiraizumiIwate PrefectureLow relief carving at Takkoku no Iwaya (達谷窟)
Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏)[3]Amida Nyorai120 metres (393.7 ft) including base and lotus (20 metres (65.6 ft))1993UshikuIbaraki PrefectureJapan's largest daibutsu
Nihon-ji Daibutsu (日本寺大仏)[4]Yakushi Nyorai31.05 metres (101.9 ft)1790KyonanChiba PrefectureCarved 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)Shaka Nyorai2.3 metres (7.5 ft), including base (0.5 metres (1.6 ft))1776KamagayaChiba PrefectureJapan's smallest daibutsu made of bronze[citation needed]
Former Ueno Daibutsu (上野大仏)[5]Shaka Nyorai1631TaitōTokyoHeavily damaged in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and melted down for the war effort
Tokyo Daibutsu (東京大仏)[6]13 metres (42.7 ft) including base1977ItabashiTokyoWeighs 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)[7]Amida Nyorai13.35 metres (43.8 ft)1252KamakuraKanagawa PrefectureSubject of the poem The Buddha at Kamakura by Rudyard Kipling; National Treasure
Takaoka Daibutsu (高岡大仏)Amida Nyorai15.85 metres (52.0 ft)1981TakaokaToyama PrefectureAt Daibutsu-ji (大佛寺)
Echizen Daibutsu (越前大仏)[8]17 metres (55.8 ft)KatsuyamaFukui Prefecture
Gifu Daibutsu (岐阜大仏)[9]Shaka Nyorai13.63 metres (44.7 ft)1828GifuGifu PrefectureAt Shōhō-ji (正法寺)
Former Hōkō-ji Daibutsu (方広寺大仏)1660sKyotoKyoto PrefectureSketch of c.1691 by Engelbert Kaempfer
Nara Daibutsu (奈良大仏)[10]Vairocana14.98 metres (49.1 ft)752NaraNara PrefectureRestored several times; part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara; National Treasure
Asuka Daibutsu (飛鳥大仏)[11][12]Shaka Nyorai2.75 metres (9.0 ft)609AsukaNara PrefectureJapan's oldest daibutsu and Buddhist statue, restored; Important Cultural Property
Former Hyōgo Daibutsu (兵庫大仏)[13]1891KobeHyōgo PrefectureAt Nōfuku-ji (能福寺); melted down in 1944 for the war effort[citation needed] and since replaced
(Nehanzo (涅槃仏)[14]Gautama Buddha41 metres (134.5 ft) (length)1899SasaguriFukuoka PrefectureAt Nanzoin (南蔵院); contains ashes of The Buddha and two of his disciples.

There are also several in Aichi Prefecture.https://www.aichi-now.jp/en/features/detail/4/

See also

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References

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