Ushiku: Great Buddha

JAPAN, Ibaraki, Ushiku; Heisei period

This statue of Amitabha was sculpted to commemorate Master Shinran, founder of the True Pure Land school. Casting began in 1989 and was completed in 1993. The main figure is 100 m high and weighs 4,000 t. It was erected using the curtain-wall construction technique often employed for high-rise buildings.
The body was assembled by welding together more than 6,000 differently shaped bronze plates only 6 cm in thickness around a steel framework to create a sturdy, lightweight structure. There are gaps in the welding to adapt to typhoons, earthquakes, and changes of temperature. The statue’s interior is divided into five levels and there is elevator access for the first 85 m from ground level to where there is a narrow viewing window in the chest.
The Buddha is portrayed wearing a monastic robes, and hands forming the highest grade of the lowest class mudra.