Kōtoku-in

Kōtoku-in (高徳院) is a Buddhist temple of the Pure Land sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The temple is renowned for the Great Buddha (大仏, daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha which is one of the most famous icons of Japan. The statue stands at 13.35 meters high and weighs approximately 93 tons, and is the second largest monumental Buddha in Japan after Tōdai-ji in Nara.

The statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakura period, when temple records report the construction of a bronze statue. However, it is unclear whether that is the present statue. The statue was built inside a wooden temple but that building washed away in a tsunami sometime during the Muromachi period in the late fifteenth century. The statue remains.

The statue is referred to as 'The Buddha at Kamakura' in several verses that preface the initial chapters of the novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling, 1901.

The Great Buddha

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha in the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

It is believed that the statue was originally cast in 1252, following an idea by the priest Joko, who also collected donations to build it. The sculptors were One-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo.

The statue is approximately 13.35m tall and weighs approximately 93 tons. The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior for a mere 20 Yen a person.

The Great Buddha was originally housed in a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1495, since then the statue has stood in the open air. Repairs were carried out in 1960-1961, when the neck was strengthened and measures were taken to protect it from earthquakes.