Echizen Great Buddha

Daishizan Seidaiji Temple (大師山清大寺) in Katsuyama City, not far from the Dinosaur Museum and Heisenji Hakusan Shrine, is a temple of immense dimensions, featuring Japan's largest indoor Buddha statue, tallest five-story pagoda and a huge temple hall. It is modeled after the great Todaiji Temple in Nara and was built in the 1980s by the owner of a local taxi company, albeit on an even greater scale and in ferro-concrete rather than wood.

The surreal visit starts with a walk along the shop-lined temple approach. After entering the paid area, visitors make their way towards the gigantic main hall along a broad, gently sloped path that leads past two temple gates.

Inside the main hall stands the 17 meter tall, bronze Echizen Great Buddha (越前大仏, Echizen Daibutsu), which is said to be the largest Buddha statue in Japan housed under a roof and named after Echizen Province, the old name of Fukui Prefecture. Its design is inspired by the seated Buddha carving at the Longmen Grottoes in China. It is flanked by four standing Bodhisattva statues. The walls behind and to either side are lined with over a thousand smaller stone statues, adding to the sense of scale and atmosphere.

The temple's other main highlight is its five-story pagoda, at 75 meters the tallest of its kind in Japan. Visitors can ascend the pagoda by elevator and take in an impressive panorama of the temple grounds and surrounding landscape. Additionally, visitors can view a reproduced Wall of Nine Dragons from China and a small strolling garden with pond.