Asuka Feature 1: Asukadera

Note: This Feature was made on October 11, 2001, as I visited the Yamato Area of old Japan. (MAP)

See Temple Tales Episode 067 for much, much more on this temple!

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In addition to Asukadera, the town of Asuka is filled with mysterious stones. You can read more about these stones, and my visit to Asuka itself, in my Logbook.

Asukadera may be Japan's oldest Buddhist temple, dating back to 588. It features a (small) "Great Buddha." This figure of Yakushi Nyorai [2020 edit: more likely, Shakyamuni], the Medicine Buddha, was originally made in 609, but it is now largely the result of subsequent reconstructions. Only the face and the raised hand are said to be original.

The Main (Buddha) Hall

The Oldest Wooden [2020 edit: it's bronze] Statue of the Buddha in Japan--sort of

The old face

The old hand

Kids and a docent

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Posted October 6, 2019