Ushiku Daibutsu

Daibutsu in Japanese means " Large Buddha ". There are a number of Daibutsu in Japan.

The Ushiku Daibutsu, located in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan,is one of the world's tallest statues. Completed in 1993, it stands a total of 120 meters tall, including the 10m high base and 10m high lotus platform. An elevator takes visitors up to 85m off the ground, where an observation floor is located. It depicts the Amitabha Buddha and is plated with bronze.

Other facts about the statues :

Weight: 4003 tons
Length of Left Hand: 18.00m
Length of Face: 20.00m
Length of Eye: 2.55m
Length of Mouth: 4.50m
Length of Nose: 1.2m
Length of Ear: 10.0m
Length of the First Finger: 7.0m

Inside the statue itself is a four story building, which serves as a kind of museum.

Level 1, Infinite Light and Infinite Life
The first floor lobby is dark, and as you enter new age music floats toward you from the darkness. In the center of the room a single shaft of light shines from above onto a cauldron of smoking incense. If you walk past that you'll find the elevator to the other floors.
Level 2 (10.0m), World of Gratitude and Thankfulness
Mostly dedicated to scriptural studies
Level 3 (20~30.0m), World of the Lotus Sanctuary
3000 samples of gold Buddha statues
Level 4 (80~85.0m), 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.




















Interesting comparsion

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Daikokutoe

There are many religiuos festival celebrated in Japan every year and some of them are celebrated in very unique ways. One of them is the Daikokutoe festival.

Daikokutoe is an ancient festival celebrated in Kamakura City , Japan. The festival is celebrated on the February 11 every year. During the ceremony Buddhist monks who have completed one hundred days of severe ascetic training will stand in the cold wind at the water basin within the precincts of Chosho-ji temple and pour cold water all over their bodies while chanting sutras to pray for world peace and human happiness.

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Buddhist Personality : Shoko Aida

Name : Shoko Aida
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 23rd February 1970
Profession : Singer / Actress

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A Monk Heads An Airline Co.

Dr. Kazuo Inamori, a well-respected entrepreneur and founder of electronics giant Kyocera Corp., began his tenure as chairman and CEO of Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) on February 1, 2010 and he will work for the troubled airlines withtou salary.

Inamori, the 78-year-old honorary chairman of Kyocera and an ordained Buddhist priest, replaces Haruka Nishimatsu, 62, who resigned as part of JAL's bankruptcy proceedings, which took place on Jan. 19.

On February 25, 2010, Dr Kazuo Inamori was appointed as part time special adviser to the Japanese cabinet

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Buddhist Personality : Masami Hisamoto

Name : Masami Hisamoto
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 9th July 1960
Profession : TV Comedian
She is a member of lay buddhist organisation, Soko Gakkai International

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Japan Asked To Convert To Islam

Do you remember the Bamiyan Buddhas ? For those who are not too young, you probably must have read in newspaper / seen on TV about the Bamiyan Buddhas or rather their destruction by the Taliban regime back in 2001 ( i still remember it vividly as it was on the news everywhere at that time ) . For those who are unfamiliar , the Bamiyan Buddhas were two 1500 years old giant size Buddhas carved out from the mountain in Afghanistan but both are no longer standing, no thanks to the descipable act of the Taliban.

The Bamiyan Buddha - Before (left) and after (right) the destruction














During the process of obliteration


After almost a decade ( time passes damn fast ), some interesting information about the Bamiyan Buddhas were revealed by a former member of the Taliban regime. Abdul Salam Zaaef who was the ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan and imprisoned in Guatanamao Bay from 2002 to 2005, wrote in his recently released memoir My Life With The Taliban that Japan was the most active country in pressing the Taliban not to destroy the two giant statues.

The extemist Taliban said that the two Buddhas statues were " idols " which is forbidden in Islam and ought to be brought down ( True but no one asked the Afghan muslims to worship the statues. Can Buddhist majority country example Japan destroy mosques in Japan ? ) In his memoirs Abdul Salam says that Japan sent a delegation together with a smaller delegation from Sri Lanka to Afghanistan to " negotiate " with the Taliban. Japan told the Taliban that the two Buddhas could be " removed " without the need to destroy them. It made two proposals to the Taliban. Japan told the regime that it was willing to remove the Buddhas piece by piece and then assemble them elsewhere (abroad). Alternatively Japan proposed to "hide" both statues by covering them from head to toe until they could not been seen at all. The Japanese told the Taliban that they were willing to protect the Buddhas because Buddhism has been a religious belief of Japan for many centuries. However the Japanese must have got a shocked reply they did not quite expect it. Not only their proposals were rejected outright by the Taliban but the regime called Buddhism as a "Void Religion" and asked the Japanese to convert to Islam instead ( the Japanese delegation probably had expected the rejection but i am sure they were stunned and speechless when asked to convert to Islam by the Taliban ).

Despite pleas from various countries ( Buddhist and non-Buddhist countries alike ), the Taliban were adamant in their decision and finally in March 2001, the two Buddhas were obliterated. Abdul Salam wrote that the destruction of the two Buddhas was within the Islamic law ( seems like he is still unrepented ) but it's timing was the right because a couple of months later, Afghanistan was attacked by the US and the Taliban defeated ( Hello !, Abdul Salam, that was not "wrong timing" but because " you reap what you sow " or the Buddhists call Karma. Your country was attacked because your regime hijacked aircrafts to hit the US on 9th September 2001 )

This is the book - My Life With The Taliban

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Japanese Monk Takes Buddhism To Another Level

Buddhism in Japan is in crisis. Eventhough most Japanese identify themselves as Buddhist but very few actually knows what Buddhism is all about. Young people are abandoning from Buddhism which they perceive as un-cool and a religion for old people. In order to preserve the religion, monks in Japan are trying hard to get the Buddhist message to the young generation.

A Buddhist monk by the name of Kansho Tagai comes out with an unconventional idea of reaching out to young people - hip hop and rap music. In an interview with reporters, the monks says that when he first listened to a rap song sung in English, he couldn't understand a single word but he likes it. From there he realises that this type of singing could be used to sing about Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures as it will appeal to young people. This is his way of passing the Dharma to the new generation of Japanese.



Personally i do not see this method of spreading the worlds of the Buddha as a form of disrespect but rather a reliable way to make young people to learn about Buddhism. Though this monk might be the first to go all the way out to reach to the young people by doing what they like to do, he isn't the only doing so today. There has been a Christian priests going to bars to preach God's words to the bar patrons and i have read that a Muslim woman in Malaysia was looking for a young and preferable handsome Muslim iman to preach in entertainment outlets frequented by young Muslims and a handsome Muslim iman singing religious songs has achieved pop star like status in Indonesia.

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Buddhist Personality : Ken Maeda

Name : Ken Maeda
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 14th June 1971
Profession : Comedian
He practices Zen Buddhism and is a member of the Soka Gakkai

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Buddhist Personality : Kaho Shimada

Name : Kaho Shimada
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 19th September 1963
Profession : Singer & theatre actress

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Buddhist Personality : Satomi Ishihara

Name : Satomi Ishihara
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 24th December 1986
Profession : Actress

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Dog

A different species of celebrity for today - a dog. This dog has become a celebrity in its own way by praying in a Zen Buddhist temple in Japan.




NAHA, Japan - At a Zen Buddhist temple in southern Japan, even the dog prays. Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha"s Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.

It took him only a few days to learn the motions, and now he is the talk of the town.

"Word has spread, and we are getting a lot more tourists," Yoshikuni said Monday.

Yoshikuni said Conan generally goes through his prayer routine at the temple in the capital of Japan"s southern Okinawa prefecture (state) without prompting before his morning and evening meals.

"I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it, too," Yoshikuni said.

The priest is now trying to teach him how to meditate.

Well, sort of.

"Basically, I am just trying to get him to sit still while I meditate," he explained. "It"s not like we can make him cross his legs."
(yahoo news)

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Buddhist Personality : Takuya Kimura

Name : Takuya Kimura
Nationality : Japan
Date Of Birth : 13th November 1972
Profession : Actor

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