Overview
The statue is a monumental bronze image of Amida (Amitābha) Buddha at the temple Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, whose casting began in 1252, in the Kamakura period. No reliable record of the sculptors survives.
Description
The Buddha is about 11.3 metres tall and weighs roughly 121 tonnes, assembled from bronze cast in sections. The statue is hollow, and visitors can enter the interior.
History and legacy
It originally sat inside a great hall, but the buildings were repeatedly wrecked by storms, and according to temple tradition the hall was finally swept away by the tsunami that followed the 1498 earthquake. Since around the end of the 15th century the Buddha has sat in the open air, and that exposed figure became its defining image. It is a National Treasure and, after the Great Buddha of Nara, the second-largest ancient bronze Buddha in Japan.