Ōya-ji — Ōya Kannon (大谷寺) 大谷寺
The Peace Kannon, 27 m, was carved by hand into the rock between 1948 and 1954.
The Ōya rock-cut statues are among the oldest Buddhist stone carvings in Japan; in 1954 they were designated a Special Historic Site (特別史跡) and in 1961 a national Important Cultural Property (重要文化財). The temple is in the same neighbourhood as the Ōya underground quarry, dug to extract the building stone of the same name, but it is a separate site with its own religious history, centuries older than the industrial exploitation of the rock.
Tochigi
大谷観音前, 大谷景観公園, 資料館入口
