Tochoji

Tochoji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in the Hakata district of Fukuoka, said to have been founded by Kukai in 806. Its best-known feature is the Fukuoka Daibutsu, a seated wooden Buddha about 10.8 meters tall with a large carved halo behind it, among the largest wooden seated Buddhas in Japan. Beneath the Buddha is a dark passage representing a journey through hell and paradise. The grounds also include a five-story pagoda completed in 2011 and a Heian-era thousand-armed Kannon statue designated an Important Cultural Property. Entry to the grounds is free, and the hall with the Buddha and the hell-and-paradise passage costs a small fee. It is about a three-minute walk from Gion Station on the Fukuoka City Subway.