Where is Great Buddha of Kamakura?
Great Buddha of Kamakura is in Kamakura, Japan, in Asia. The game uses the reference point shown below: 35.3167°, 139.5357°. A guess within 25 km earns the full distance score before any hint deduction.
The marker identifies the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, southwest of Tokyo. It is separate from the Great Buddha at Nara.
Map loading. Coordinates: 35.3167°, 139.5357°.
The story behind the landmark
Kōtoku-in's official account states that construction began in 1252, while noting that the sculptor and other details remain uncertain. The statue represents Amida Buddha. Its original enclosure was damaged by repeated disasters, and it has stood outdoors since the loss of the great hall.
The temple's description of the interior explains that the statue was assembled through roughly forty separate castings. The visible seams inside record the technology behind the apparently unified exterior. Understanding its hollow construction gives a different perspective on a monument most visitors first encounter as a solid-looking seated figure.
How to recognise it
- A greenish bronze Buddha seated in an open courtyard
- Hands joined low in front of the folded legs
- Small tightly curled hair and a broad, gently inclined head
Look twice: a useful comparison
Nara's Great Buddha stands within the large hall at Tōdai-ji, while Kamakura's is outdoors. Leshan's Buddha in China is carved directly from a cliff. The material, enclosure and setting provide more reliable clues than the general label 'Great Buddha'.
A detail worth remembering
Inside the statue, the casting divisions can still be read. Kōtoku-in describes about forty separate castings joined together, making the interior a record of how a large medieval metal sculpture was created from smaller sections.
