Located in Ushiku, Japan, northeast of Tokyo, the world’s tallest bronze Buddha statue has recently undergone its annual cleaning. Two veterans, who have been performing this task for over twenty years, scaled the 360-foot statue to restore its shine. According to an AFP report, the duo used high-pressure water guns to remove dust and bird droppings from the monument, starting from the statue’s head and working their way down to its right ear.
“It is a very unusual task,” said 54-year-old Kazuyoshi Taguchi, who has been doing the job for years with the help of Kazumi Minowa, 51. “We had no idea how to clean the statue and faced many difficulties like our bodies being rolled and blown around by the wind,” he said while recalling the first day of their job.
Towering at a massive 120 meters, the Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏, "Great Buddha of Ushiku") in Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is one of the world's tallest Buddha statues. For comparison, Nara's Daibutsu in Todaiji Temple is only 15 meters high. pic.twitter.com/qZTRzCky7t— เที่ยวกัน”ต่อ” (@ChoisriketW) October 25, 2023
Having done it multiple times now, the task has become an easy job, as they did on Monday, September 9, 2024. Carrying a rope and buckets of water up the ladders to the top of the Buddha, Taguchi and Minowa also descended through the 480 coils of curly hair, each one a metre wide. They were even able to clean the year’s worth of dirt from the statue’s ears. Despite having no prior experience in climbing, amateur boxer Taguchi and fishing fan Minowa have been efficiently carrying out the “soot removal” job and are “proud” of it.
Notably, soot removal is an annual practice that is done at Japanese temples when monks and worshippers clean the altars and buildings. For the Buddha statue in question, the temple staff have been using larger brooms instead of bamboo ones due to their size. “This event also has the meaning for us of reflecting on the year, and starting a new one with a fresh mindset,” said Ushiku temple representative Masahiro Maekawa.
The tallest structure has also been recorded on the Guinness World Record. Measuring 110 metres (360 feet 10.7 inches), its construction was erected in 1992. With the exterior covered with more than 6,000 bronze panels, it took 10 years to complete. Besides its unique size, the Buddha figure is a temple itself, where visitors can explore the inside of the statue.
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