The construction method makes the Gifu Great Buddha unique among Japan's monumental Buddhist statues. Workers began by shaping a central pillar from ginkgo wood, 1.8 meters in circumference, strong enough to bear the weight of the massive figure above. Around this core they wove a framework of bamboo lattice, building up the seated Buddha's form in a cage of flexible strips. Clay was packed over the bamboo to sculpt the features -- the broad shoulders, the serene face, the long earlobes that signify wisdom in Buddhist iconography. Then came the layer that gives this statue its spiritual depth: actual Buddhist scriptures, handwritten on paper, were applied over the clay surface. The sacred texts became part of the Buddha's body. Finally, layers of lacquer and gold leaf sealed everything together, giving the statue its warm, luminous glow. It is the largest lacquered Buddha in Japan.

The late eighteenth century was a brutal stretch for central Japan. Earthquakes cracked foundations, crop failures brought famine, and communities across the region struggled to recover. Priest Ichyuu watched his congregation suffer and conceived the Great Buddha as both a spiritual anchor and a communal act of devotion. The project was enormous for a single temple -- gathering enough ginkgo wood, bamboo, clay, gold leaf, and handwritten scripture to build a seated figure over thirteen meters tall. Donations came slowly. Labor was painstaking. Ichyuu dedicated twenty-five years of his life to the effort before dying in 1815 with the statue incomplete. That it continued at all is a testament to the depth of commitment within the temple. Priest Kohshuu took up the burden and spent another seventeen years seeing it through. When the Gifu Daibutsu was finally completed in 1832, it represented not just one priest's vision but two generations of devotion.

Japan traditionally counts three great Buddha statues as its most revered: the bronze Daibutsu at Tōdai-ji in Nara, the outdoor bronze at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, and -- depending on which list you follow -- either the Gifu Great Buddha or the Takaoka Daibutsu in Toyama Prefecture holds the third position. The Gifu statue's claim rests on its unusual construction and its impressive scale. At 13.63 meters, it rivals the more famous bronze figures, but its layered composition of organic materials, sacred text, and lacquer gives it a warmth and intimacy that cold metal cannot match. Housed inside Shōhō-ji's wooden hall rather than exposed to the elements, the Gifu Daibutsu sits in filtered light, surrounded by rows of smaller Buddhist figures. The atmosphere is contemplative rather than monumental -- a giant built not to overpower but to shelter.

The most remarkable detail of the Gifu Great Buddha is invisible to the eye. Beneath the lacquer and gold leaf, Buddhist scriptures are physically embedded in the statue's surface. This was not decoration -- it was theology made material. In Buddhist tradition, sacred texts carry the power of the dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. By layering scripture onto the statue's body, the builders fused the written word with the physical image, creating an object that is simultaneously a work of art, a feat of engineering, and a repository of religious knowledge. Visitors standing before the golden figure are looking at a library wrapped in lacquer. Every curve of the Buddha's face, every fold of the robe, rests on layers of handwritten prayer. The statue does not just represent the Buddha's teachings. It contains them.