In front of you is not a Buddha, but only its face, set into a wall like a mask. It is all that remains of the Great Buddha of Ueno, and its story reads like a list of misfortunes.

1Four centuries of bad luck

The first giant Buddha was put up here in 1631 at the initiative of Hori Naoyori, a daimyō who wished to honour those killed in the civil wars. An earthquake damaged it a few years later and, with donations from the people of Edo, a new bronze statue was cast. It suffered again in the fire of 1841 and the earthquake of 1855, and each time it was repaired.

The Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 knocked its head off. The statue was never rebuilt, and during the Second World War its bronze was requisitioned to make weapons. Only the face was saved, kept at Kan'ei-ji temple.

In 1972 the face returned to its hill, set into the wall you see before you.

2The Buddha that will fall no more

The story has an unexpected ending. In Japanese, ‘to fall’ and ‘to fail an exam’ are expressed with the same verb, ochiru. And since this Buddha has nothing left to lose, students call it the ‘Buddha of passing’ and come here to ask that they, too, will not fall. It is a modern, popular devotion, not an ancient tradition.

3What to look for

  • The bronze face, its serene expression still intact.
  • The ema plaques bearing students' wishes.
  • The pagoda on the hill, dedicated to another Buddha, Yakushi.
Old hand-coloured photograph of the complete Great Buddha of Ueno
The whole Buddha, in a photograph taken before the 1923 earthquake.

Documented

The Buddha was erected in 1631, lost its head in the 1923 earthquake and its body to the wartime requisition of metal; the face has been displayed here since 1972.

Oral tradition

Its reputation as the ‘Buddha of passing’ is a modern popular devotion based on a play on words.

Sources and credits

Kan'ei-ji Temple, information on the Great Buddha of Ueno; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, panel text ‘Ueno Daibutsu’; Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association, Ueno Park.

Photos:

  • The bronze face of the Great Buddha of Ueno in its small shelter: nesnad, CC BY 3.0.
  • Old hand-coloured photograph of the complete Great Buddha of Ueno: Unknown authorUnknown author, Dominio público.

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