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[[Image:Kamakura-daibutsu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Kamakura Daibutsu.]]
[[Image:Kamakura-daibutsu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Kamakura Daibutsu.]]
*''Built: [[1272]]''
*''Built: [[1252]]-?''
*''Designation: [[National Treasure]]''
*''Japanese'': 鎌倉大仏 ''(Kamakura daibutsu)''
*''Japanese'': 鎌倉大仏 ''(Kamakura daibutsu)''
The Kamakura ''Daibutsu'', or "Kamakura Great Buddha," is the second-largest bronze statue of the [[Buddha]] in Japan. It was constructed in [[1272]], of multiple pieces of bronze, and is housed at the temple of [[Kotoku-in|Kôtoku-in]] in [[Kamakura]]. The sculpture was originally located indoors, within a wooden ''daibutsuden'', or "Great Buddha Hall," but a tsunami destroyed the hall in [[1498]], leaving the statue nearly completely undamaged. The 1923 Great Kantô Earthquake caused the Daibutsu to shift two feet, but then too it remained undamaged.
The Kamakura ''Daibutsu'', or "Kamakura Great Buddha," is the second-largest bronze statue of the [[Buddha]] in Japan, and the only Buddha sculpture in the city of [[Kamakura]] to be designated a [[National Treasure]].<ref>[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/butuzoukoutokuinamida.htm Butsuzô Kôtoku-in Amida]." Kamakura-burabura.com.</ref> Depicting [[Amida]] Nyorai, it was constructed of multiple pieces of bronze, and is housed at the temple of [[Kotoku-in|Kôtoku-in]].
The monk [[Joko|Jôkô]]<!--淨光-->, who had traveled the country collecting contributions, began construction of a wooden Great Buddha sculpture, and the Great Buddha Hall to house it, in the 3rd month of [[1238]]; the eye-opening ceremony was held on [[1243]]/6/11. This wooden sculpture was lost in a great storm in [[1247]], and construction began on a bronze replacement in [[1252]]; it is this bronze sculpture which survives today.<ref name=bura>"[http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyokamakuradaibutu.htm Kôtoku-in (Kamakura Daibutsu)]." Kamakura-burabura.com.</ref>
Little is known about the sculptor (designer) of the Great Buddha, but stylistically it shows strong influence from [[Song Dynasty]] Chinese Buddhist sculpture, and from the [[Kei school]] of Japanese sculptors.<ref name=kotoku>"[http://www.kotoku-in.jp/characteristic.html Kamakura daibutsu no tokuchô]." Official website of Kôtoku-in. 2010.</ref>
It is the first [[Important Cultural Property|Japanese Cultural Property]] to be repaired using plastic, and to have this type of base-isolating quake protection installed.
The sculpture was originally located indoors, within a wooden ''daibutsuden'', or "Great Buddha Hall," but the hall was severely damaged by storms in [[1335]] and [[1369]]; a tsunami destroyed the hall in [[1498]], leaving the statue nearly completely undamaged. The statue has remained open to the sky since that time.<ref name=bura/> The 1923 Great Kantô Earthquake caused the Daibutsu to shift two feet, but then too it remained undamaged.
Visitors are allowed to enter inside the great hollow sculpture for a small fee, providing a unique view of how the sculpture was assembled. Like the Nara ''daibutsu'' at [[Todai-ji|Tôdai-ji]], it was made by piling tons of earth around a mold, allowing workers to then climb atop the earthen mound to pour molten bronze in from above. Numerous layers, or piece-molds, were used, so that at the end, the Buddha was completely encased in a massive pile of dirt created to allow workers to get up high enough to pour the last sections (i.e. the head). The dirt and molds were then removed, leaving only the cooled, hardened bronze. From inside the Buddha, the seam where the top part and the lower part, cast separately, were then joined, is clearly visible. Also visible is a part of the inside of the neck which looks like it has been painted with clay - the result of a strengthening, a conservation effort, in 1960, using a kind of plastic or resin.<ref name=plaques>Plaques on-site.</ref> Considerable sections of the sculpture may have been gilded; traces of gilding remain on the cheeks.<ref name=kotoku/>
After the statue separated from its base and moved in the Great Earthquake, base-isolating quake protection was installed. No matter how great an earthquake, the statue will now never fall off its base, or fall over. It is the first [[Important Cultural Property|Japanese Cultural Property]] to be repaired using plastic, and to have this type of base-isolating quake protection installed.<ref name=plaques/>
The Kamakura Daibutsu is:
The Kamakura Daibutsu is:
*Its ''[[urna]]'' is 18cm in diameter
*Its ''[[urna]]'' is 18cm in diameter
*Each whorl of hair is 18cm tall, and 24cm in diameter
*Each whorl of hair is 18cm tall, and 24cm in diameter
*There are 656 whorls of hair.<ref>"[http://www.kotoku-in.jp/characteristic.html Kamakura daibutsu no tokuchô]." Official website of Kôtoku-in. 2010.</ref>
*There are 656 whorls of hair.<ref name=kotoku/>
==References==
<references/>
==References==
==External Links==
*Plaques and signs on-site.
*[http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=812784012145870316&q=%E9%AB%98%E5%BE%B3%E9%99%A2&hl=en&ved=0CCYQ-gswAQ&sa=X&ei=TWYoT72vNJSEzAXYyaHxBQ&sig2=zHKx28g41dtBX3b44tjx3A Kamakura daibutsu on Google Maps]
[[Category:Kamakura Period]]
[[Category:Kamakura Period]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]
[[Category:Art and Architecture]]
[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Buddhism]]