Description

The Echizen Daibutsu is unlike anything I've ever seen. The complex itself is massive, like something out of ancient Japan. As I was exploring the grounds, it felt like I had stepped back hundreds, if not thousands of years, into Japan's history. Time had ceased to have any meaning and the troubles of the world slowly dissolved into a forgotten memory. Then I entered the inner sanctuary. Before me was one of the largest Buddha statues in Japan, flanked on all sides by walls of small, white Buddha statues. Echoing throughout the massive room was the faint song of monks that was something between Tibetan throat singing and a song-like chant. It was ever present but never intrusive to the exploration that the experience allowed. Capping off this mystical time travel was the slowly setting sun, which had started to spill its soft light into the chambers, casting its light on the hundreds of small statues. Image taken on May 15, 2021 at Echizen Daibutsu in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.