Sanjusangen-do

photo by Hikomi Moneru · CC BY 3.0

photo by Eric Salard · CC BY-SA 2.0

There are exactly 1,001 statues of Kannon: 1,000 standing plus one seated in the centre.

The hall is 120 metres long (hence the name, ‘hall of thirty-three bays’), and the thousand statues of Kannon (the Buddhist deity of mercy, depicted here with a thousand arms to help those who suffer) stand in ten rows, all carved in cypress wood and covered in gold leaf, each with a face slightly different from the others. In front of them, also standing, run the 28 guardian deities and the statues of the wind god and the thunder god. In mid-January, along the 120-metre west veranda, an archery tournament (通し矢) is still held that revives a contest from the Edo period: back then the arrows were shot along the whole length of the veranda; today the distance is 60 metres.

Built in 1164 on the orders of Taira no Kiyomori for the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa, it burnt down in 1249 and was rebuilt in 1266: that structure, 761 years old, is the one you visit today. The main hall and all 1,001 statues are National Treasures.

ℹ️ Open 8:00–17:00 from the beginning of April to 15 November, 9:00–16:00 from 16 November to the end of March (last entry 30 minutes before closing). Tickets 600 yen for adults. Free admission on the three days of the archery tournament in mid-January, on 3 March and on the day in May dedicated to the main deity.

🚉 Shichijō · 7 min walk

Sources: sanjusangendo.jp · ja.wikipedia.org · veltra.com

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