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Ho-onji Temple, 500 Buddhist Disciples

Lacquered wooden statues which took four years to craft.

Area Map

Ho-onji Temple, 500 Buddhist Disciples
The temple was moved to the present location from San-nohe of Aomori Prefecture in 1601. It is known for Five Hundred Disciples of the Buddha statues in the Rakan Hall. 499 out of 500 statues still remain to this day. Those statues were sculpted by Buddha image sculptors in Kyoto and later transported to Morioka in Iwate. Costumes and complexions are unique to each statue, and some of them have been nicknamed such as a Marc O’Polo statue and a Kublai Khan statue -- you will be sure to find statues which look like your friends or acquaintances. In Japan, there are about 50 sites where Five Hundred Disciples of the Buddha are placed, but it is quite a rare case where 499 wooden statues out of total 500 are remaining in good condition to this day.

    Address

    Ho-onji Temple
    31-5, Nasukawacho, Morioka-shi, Iwate

    Access from major landmarks

    Morioka Station - Ho-onji Temple
    From Morioka Station to Kitayama bus stop
    Ten minutes (via bus)
    From Kitayama bus stop to Ho-onji Temple
    Approx. Five minutes by walk

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