Tuesday October 10, 1989
Posted in diary on 10/10/2009 08:56 pm by M Sinclair Stevens
1989-10-10. Usuki Sekibutsu. Dainichi Nyorai head.
Accounts
| ¥300 | Usuki sembe |
| ¥500 | Usuki poster |
| ¥800 | admission to cave |
| ¥140 | groceries: bread |
| ¥4 | consumption tax |
| ¥3156 | Total |
Notes from 2009
I listen attentively to Tonai-sensei’s explanation. Unfortunately, I didn’t take notes.
It’s a national holiday, Sports Day (体育の日 Taiiku no Hi.) Tonai-sensei and his wife take me on another on a drive tour around Oita-ken. This time JQS begs off and stays home alone. This concerns the Tonais and, I believe, they were doing these tours mostly for his benefit. I don’t remember that they take me on any more after this. We visit a cavern and the Usuki Seki Butsu (Usuki Stone Buddhas).
Usuki Stone Buddhas
Furuzono Buddha. Head of Dainichi Nyorai 大日如来の仏頭
The Usuki Stone Buddhas are one of the National Treasures of Japan. I have some information in my scrapbook cut out of a brochure in Japanese that I can’t read. Wikipedia says that it is estimated that they were carved in the 12th century.
From what I can glean from a Google translated Usuki Sekibutsu homepage, this large head in the Furuzono 30 Group, also known as the Mt. Dainichi Group, collapsed and was restored on August 25, 1993. So my photos shows it on the ground in front of its body (I think), before it was restored. Here’s a better explanation in both English and Japanese with more photos.