Sendai Daikannon Temple

Overview

The Sendai Daikannon Temple is a Buddhist temple in Izumi-ku, a ward of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Its official name is 大観密寺 (Daikanmitsuji). The temple is dominated by a colossal statue of the bodhisattva Byakue Kannon, the "white-robed Kannon," which rises 100 metres above the surrounding hillside. The statue, formally named the Sendai Tendō Byakue Daikannon, is the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan and the tenth-tallest statue in the world. The temple was founded on 1 September 1991, in the third year of the Heisei era.

History

The temple belongs to the Heisei period, the era that began in 1989 with the accession of Emperor Akihito and ran until 2019. The Daikannon statue was completed in 1991, the same year the temple was established. At the moment of its completion it was the tallest statue anywhere in the world, a distinction it held for two years. In 1993 it was surpassed by the Ushiku Daibutsu, a statue of Amida Buddha in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The monument consists of two parts. The statue itself measures 92 metres, and it stands on a pedestal that brings the total height to 100 metres, or roughly 330 feet. The figure portrays a woman: Byakue Kannon, a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kannon, shown in white robes and holding the cintāmaṇi gem, known in Japanese as the Nyoihōju (如意宝珠), a jewel said to grant wishes and dispel suffering.

What Stands There Today

The statue is hollow, and visitors enter it for a small fee. The first floor holds numerous large statues of Buddhas and mythical kings. From there, an elevator carries visitors to the twelfth level, and the route back to the ground is made on foot, descending by stairs and ramps. Each level along the descent displays eight Buddha figures set in wooden cabinets, 108 in total. The number 108 carries its own weight in Japanese Buddhism: it is the traditional count of worldly desires and attachments that Buddhist practice aims to overcome, and it is the same number struck by temple bells on New Year's Eve.

The statue stands at coordinates 38.3005° N, 140.8237° E, on high ground in Izumi-ku, the northernmost ward of Sendai. The elevated site gives the figure a long sightline over the city.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 大観密寺. It is read だいかんみつじ in kana, and rendered in romaji as Daikanmitsuji. The name breaks down into four kanji:

• 大 — read dai here. It means "great" or "large." It is the same character that begins 大仏 (daibutsu), "great Buddha," and it appears in the names of many of Japan's oversized Buddhist monuments.
• 観 — read kan. It means "to see," "to observe," or "to contemplate." This is the character at the heart of Kannon's name: 観音 (Kannon), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, whose name is a compression of 観世音 (Kanzeon), "the one who perceives the sounds of the world" — that is, the cries of those who suffer.
• 密 — read mitsu. It means "secret," "dense," or "esoteric." In a Buddhist context it points to 密教 (mikkyō), Esoteric Buddhism, the tradition of ritual and mantra associated with the Shingon and Tendai schools.
• 寺 — read ji. It means "temple." This is the standard suffix for a Buddhist temple in Japanese, and it appears in temple names across the country, from 浅草寺 (Sensōji) in Tokyo to 東大寺 (Tōdaiji) in Nara.

So the temple name as a whole carries the sense of a great esoteric temple of Kannon. The statue has its own, longer name: 仙台天道白衣大観音, read Sendai Tendō Byakue Daikannon. Here 仙台 (Sendai) is the city; 天道 (tendō) means "heavenly way" or "the way of heaven"; 白衣 (byakue) means "white robe," referring to Kannon's white garments; and 大観音 (Daikannon) means "great Kannon." The English rendering "Sendai Daikannon" is a shortening of this full title.

Visiting and Context

The temple sits in Izumi-ku, reachable from central Sendai by city subway and bus. Entry to the interior of the statue requires a small fee. The interior route is one-way in practice: up by elevator to the twelfth level, then down through the display floors to the exit.

For learners of Japanese, the name repays attention. The character 観 appears in 観光 (kankō), "sightseeing," and in 観客 (kankyaku), "spectator" — the shared idea being looking and observing. The character 寺 is one of the most productive in the language of place names, and recognising it lets a reader identify a Buddhist temple at a glance, just as 神社 (jinja) marks a Shinto shrine. The statue's own name adds 白衣, a compound that also appears in ordinary modern Japanese, where it can mean a white coat or white clothing. Reading the full name 仙台天道白衣大観音 piece by piece turns a long string of kanji into a set of familiar parts: a city, a heavenly path, a white robe, and a great Kannon.