Kōtoku-in Temple

Kōtoku-in temple's bronze Great Buddha was cast in 1252, replacing an earlier wooden statue that had been damaged by storms just a few years after its 1243 completion. The bronze image, likely the work of casters Ōno Gorōemon or Tanji Hisatomo, depicts Amida Buddha and is affiliated with the Jōdo-shū sect.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura, attributed to ancient Japanese foundry workshops, stands 13.35 meters tall including its base and weighs about 121 tonnes. Traces of gold leaf are still visible near the ears, hinting at gilding that once covered the whole figure. The hall that originally sheltered it was destroyed by a tsunami in 1498, and the statue has sat in the open air ever since, a condition now considered part of its identity as a National Treasure.

Restoration work followed the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, which damaged its base, and again in the 1960s and in 2016, keeping the centuries-old bronze structurally sound for the crowds who climb inside its hollow interior.