Photo/Illutration Towering at a massive 120 meters and weighing 4,000 tons, the Ushiku Daibutsu in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, was built in 1993 to commemorate the birth of Shinran, founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism. The interior of the statue houses a worship hall as well as an 85-meter-high observatory. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

Returning from a Japanese funeral, I paused in front of my "genkan" entrance and, from my bag, pulled out the white envelope that I had received.

I felt the envelope for salt, but it was missing and only a postcard was inside. Oh, well, I thought and just walked inside.

Later that evening, I read the postcard and learned that in the Jodo Shinshu sect (Pure Land Buddhism), death is not considered an impurity because when a person dies, they are reborn in the Pure Land, so purification by salt is unnecessary.

It was with such thoughts that I visited Ushiku Daibutsu in Ibaraki Prefecture. It’s genuinely gargantuan--one of the tallest Buddha statues in the world, seemingly soaring to the heavens with a height of 120 meters. The world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha is so huge that the famed Kamakura and Nara Buddha statues seem tiny in comparison!

Why is such a marvel located seemingly in the middle of nowhere, in Ibaraki? Shinran Shonin (1173-1262), the founder of Jodo Shinshu, lived, married and drafted “Kyogyoshinsho” (The True Teaching, Practice and Realization of the Pure Land Way) here in 1224.

Jodo Shinshu Buddhism teaches that the world is a corrupt place, so rebirth to another world, the Pure Land, is the aim. To do this, things are kept easy: a steadfast recitation of “Namu-Amida-Butsu,” which can be roughly translated as, “I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life.”

Upon removing your shoes and entering the Buddha, you are first thrust into darkness. As your eyes grow accustomed to the dim light, you perceive that you’re in the World of Infinite Light and Life.

Illuminated Buddhas surround you, magical wind chime-like sounds reverberate, and you can smell the aroma of burning incense. The sensation is one of delight, mystery and spirituality.

Follow the signs, and you’ll be ushered to an area with photographs that explain how the Buddha statue was constructed, then to an observation area named “Room of Mount Grdhrakuta,” where you can look in the four directions outside from thin slits in the chest area of the statue, and see where the ashes belonging to the real Buddha are enshrined.

On another level is the World of the Lotus Sanctuary, the main worship hall with about 3,400 small golden Buddhas called "tainaibutsu," a Buddha within a Buddha, which are purchased by a faithful family in remembrance of a family member who has passed away. Seeing this reminded me that I was in a temple.

I left Ushiku chanting “Namu-Amida-Butsu,” and I felt totally purified, sodium-free.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Dec. 19 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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