Photo/Illutration The Ofuna Kannon statue is on the grounds of Ofuna Kannonji temple. The white-robed statue of the goddess of mercy is 25 meters tall and weighs 1,915 tons. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

A huge, white-robed Kannon wearing a faintly serene smile can be seen atop Mount Mugaso to the west of Ofuna Station.

Despite being in the Kamakura area, it’s off the beaten path, so it draws more devotees than tourists checking off yet another temple on their travel itinerary.

Temples are often built up high, and usually not much can be seen from the bottom of the steps that one has to climb to reach the temple grounds.

Here, however, one sees a most peculiar sight--a white head at the top end of the stairway! Mercy me--it’s a bit surreal. Slowly as you ascend, more of the statue is revealed.

“Kan” in Kannon means to watch, and “on” is sound. Sometimes there’s a “ze” in the middle, Kanzeon, which means the observer of mundane voices.

Kannon personifies compassion and is a bosatsu, an enlightened being who stays in the earthly realm to help people in distress. Kannon witnesses and listens to the inner and outer voices of those who are troubled.

Kannon is universally loved and adored by many Asians, irrespective of their denominations. My first encounter with Kannon worship was when I was a child.

My mother had a Taiwanese bingo buddy who carried multiple statuettes. In between games, she would explain each one to me. I could feel her affection and devotion to Kannon, and it made me happy to see her cheerily go on and on about them.

Donations to construct Ofuna Kannon started in 1927, and the groundbreaking was two years later. Initially, a standing statue was planned, but the land was deemed not strong enough and the plan was changed to a seated Kannon. This, too, proved unfeasible, and in the end, it became a bust image.

Kannon appears in many forms to save the souls of the suffering. The Ofuna Kannonji temple, among other things, serves to comfort the war dead and their families on all sides, friend and foe, and is a place for prayer for world peace.

With the Great Depression, funding dried up, and the project lay unfinished for 23 years. Ironically, the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 boosted Japan’s economic recovery. This led to efforts to resume construction, and after some trying times, the Kannon was completed in 1960.

Inside the statue, there’s an altar along with numerous Buddha figurines. It’s peaceful and feels almost as if you’re inside a womb.

Kannon, please keep your merciful gaze upon us.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Jan. 3-10 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s In and Around Tokyo," which depicts the capital and its surroundings through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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