Kagadaikannon — Local services in Kaga

🚴‍♂️ I came here by bike after always seeing this statue from the train window. It’s massive—you can spot it from really far away, and up close it’s even more impressive. Definitely one of those “wait, what is that?” landmarks.

I looked up the story behind it before visiting, and honestly, it’s a bit sad. The statue was part of a religious theme park built during Japan’s economic bubble, but the park shut down years ago and now the area feels kind of abandoned. The original owner had a pretty controversial history too. Still, despite the complicated backstory, the statue itself is amazing to see in person.

I’m not very familiar with the religious meaning—Kannon is the goddess of mercy in Buddhism, I think—but I made a quiet wish while I was there. It felt peaceful in a strange, calm way.

The site isn’t really maintained anymore, so don’t expect a touristy vibe. But if you like unusual places, or you’re just curious about big statues with weird history, this is a cool and unique...

A defunct temple and overnight complex, but you can still walk around for ¥500 and, to be honest, it's still really cool. It's too bad the city or some private investor hasn't down anything with it because the buildings and statues and such that are still there are quite impressive.

There's the giant Buddha, of course, but there's also a diorama of Siddhartha Gautama's life (the historical Buddha), a 1,000 Buddha hall, a golden pagoda, and more, all in more or less good condition. If you don't mind the slightly eerie atmosphere (or maybe of you really like that kind of thing), it's totally...

The facilities are for the most part abandoned except for a few older men and women working there as I assume volunteer work. This was built during the bubble economy, and was abandoned as best I could tell in 2012. Everything looks like they just picked up and left one day. It's interesting in the sense that it looks post apocalyptic. It's worth seeing as you won't find other places like...