S P O T ／ SPOT-235
Rokuya Daibutsu (Hōkō-ji Temple)
鹿野大仏（寳光寺）ろくやだいぶつ（ほうこうじ）
Most of Japan's great Buddhas are centuries old — relics of medieval faith or ancient state power. This one was finished in 2018. On the slope of Mount Rokuya behind Hōkō-ji, a Sōtō Zen temple in the mountain town of Hinode just west of central Tokyo, sits a gilded bronze Shakyamuni Buddha about 12 meters tall, roughly 18 meters with its pedestal — tall enough to edge out the famous Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is, in effect, a 21st-century great Buddha, and the strangeness lies in encountering something so monumental and so new at the same time, materializing on a quiet wooded hillside reached by climbing a kilometer of mountain path from the temple below. The project was a vow held across generations: the 32nd abbot pledged to build it, died in 1995, and his successors finally realized it after the 2011 earthquake, using a Yamagata foundry and traditional cast-bronze technique. It is proof that Japan's tradition of building colossal Buddhas never really ended — it just went quiet for a while.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01A "Heisei-era great Buddha" completed in 2018 — 12 meters for the figure, 18 meters with the pedestal
- 02A gilded cast-bronze seated Shakyamuni whose figure height exceeds the Great Buddha of Kamakura
- 03A colossus appearing suddenly on a mountainside, reached by climbing up from the temple and approach path below
A C C E S S ／ M E T A
Essentials
- Location
- Tokyo Hinode Town, Nishitama District
- Address
- 〒190-0182 東京都西多摩郡日の出町平井3392地先
- Fee
- 大人（中学生以上）300円、小人（小学生）100円
- Hours
- 9:00〜16:00（火曜休）
- Status
- 現存
- Nearest
- JR五日市線「武蔵増戸駅」
- Walk
- 24 min
- Parking
- あり（無料・寳光寺駐車場）
- Time
- 1〜1.5時間