. . . History

Construction of the Statue as well as its hall were completed in 1243. However, it was not like the present-day bronze statue, but a wooden one with its head's girth as large as 78 feet.

Unfortunately, it was completely wrecked by a violent storm in 1247. Five years later in 1252, the construction of a new statue began. It was not wooden but bronze. It took more than a dozen years to finish up. The Great Buddha Statue we see today is the one made that was made at that time, though the exact time of completion remains obscure.

The Statue was originally housed in a large wooden building. However, it was caught in another storm in 1335 and the building was completely ruined. When the typhoon hit the area, no fewer than 500 samurai sought refuge in the building. Unfortunately, most of them were crushed to death, says the record, as the building collapsed.

In 1495, the area suffered again from the calamity of earthquake and ensuing tsunami wave. The newly constructed building was severely damaged once more. But the Statue was all right. Since then the Statue has since never been housed, and has been sitting in the open air, weather-beaten, over 700 years.

The Statue had sometimes been left in natural erosion and neglect. As a matter of fact, it fell into disrepair to a point where the homeless and gamblers lived inside, making it as their den. Saddened by the deteriorating condition, a priest, Yuten Ken'yo (1637-1718) planned not only to repair the Statue but also to build a large hall at the same time. He began to solicit contributions in 1712. Though the fund he collected was not enough to cover the construction cost of a new building, it was enough to revamp the Statue. Without his efforts, it might have been broken down by now.

In commemoration of the efforts exerted by priest, Yuten and major contributors, there are four round-shaped (lotus pedals) bronze plates lying just behind the Statue, on which donators' names are engraved. Minor repairs were made twice in recent years; once in 1923 after the Great Kanto Earthquake by which the base of the Statue was damaged, and the other in 1960. The latter was to reinforce the neck part as well as the base so that it can survive should a similar-size earthquake occur.

Component: copper; 68.8 percent, lead; 20.0 percent, tin; 9.3 percent, reminder; iron and aluminum. Thickness of the bronze varies depending on the part of the Statue with the range of 3 to 12 centimeters.

The encyclopedia introduces this cast-in-bronze statue as "the city's most celebrated landmark". It also says the statue is "a historic landmark". To any Japanese who refers to Kamakura, the first thing that crosses his mind would probably be this Great Buddha or Daibutsu as is commonly called. In fact, it is a National Treasure and one of the centerpieces of the city's cultural heritages.