寺

Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kōtoku-in) 高徳院

Must-seeBuddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

早In 30 seconds

A bronze Amida Buddha, 13.35 m tall with its base, sitting in meditation in the open air. Casting began in 1252. It once sat inside a great wooden hall, but storms and a tsunami destroyed the hall centuries ago — and for a small extra fee you can step inside the statue.

朝Best time of dayEarly morning on a weekday
券EntryPaid — see the official site

見Don't miss these 4

The face and hands
Look at the hands resting in the lap in a gesture of meditation, and the calm face. Traces of the gold leaf that once covered the statue remain on the right cheek.
Inside the statue
The statue is hollow. Inside you can see the seams where separately cast bronze sections were joined in the 13th century.
The giant straw sandals
Huge woven sandals hang on a wall in the grounds — offered for the Buddha.
The empty foundation stones
Around the statue, look for the large stones where the pillars of the lost hall once stood.

史History in brief

1252
Casting of the bronze Buddha begins, replacing an earlier wooden statue.
14th–15th c.
Storms damage the hall, and a tsunami in 1498 sweeps it away. The Buddha has sat in the open air ever since.
Today
A National Treasure, and the second-largest bronze Buddha in Japan after Nara's.

備Before you go

礼
A sign at the gate asks visitors to enter with reverence: this is a place of worship, not only a photo spot.
電
Take the Enoden line to Hase Station and walk; combine it with Hase-dera temple nearby.

Checked on 2026-11-10 against these sources

伝 marks a legend or tradition, not a proven fact.

史About

Kōtoku-in (高徳院) is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo-shū sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its mountain name is Daii-zan (大異山), and its common temple name is Shōjōsen-ji (清浄泉寺).

The temple is renowned for The Great Buddha of Kamakura (鎌倉大仏, Kamakura Daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amitābha, which is one of the most famous icons of Japan. It is also a designated National Treasure, and one of the twenty-two historic sites included in Kamakura's proposal for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

Text from Wikipedia: Kōtoku-in — CC BY-SA 4.0. Read more on Wikipedia →

要Quick facts

Type	Temple
Location	Hase, Kanagawa
Founded	1252
Designations	Historic Site of Japan National Treasure of Japan
Official website	kotoku-in.jp/en
Nearest stations	Hase Station · 611 m Enoshima Electric Railway Line Yuigahama Station · 682 m Enoshima Electric Railway Line Wadazuka Station · 957 m Enoshima Electric Railway Line Distances are in a straight line; walking routes are longer.
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗