Kawashigashi town - Aizumura

Saturday morning on our way to Aizuwakamatsu, we noticed a huge statue reminding us of Virgin Mary. We decided to stop and take a look.
Soon we found ourselves inside the most beautiful Japanese park, with full blooming cherry trees, various types of plants, bushes and trees, children feeding carps, a small shrine, a 14 meter reclining statue of Buddha and many great picnic spots. The park was busteling with families, school classes and elderly couple trying to find a place for o hanami in the shadow of the cherry trees. We felt the same energy we used to sense in some of the parks in Copenhagen. Nice!


The 57 meter tall statue, pictures 'Jibo Kannon'. 'Jibo' means 'Loving Mother' and 'Kannon' is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.
The reason why she resemble Virgin Mary could be found in the fact that Christianity was banned during the Edo era, so Christian people disquised Virgin Mary in many Jibo Kannon.

The name of the park was Aizu-mura, which means the Aizu village. We will soon return to this place for a whole day picnic/reading in the sun. Here are some more shots:

The Japanese children were well represented in the park, looking cute in their uniforms, or feeding carps.
Jibo Kannon smelling the Cherry blossoms:
Sleeping Beauty. This statue is a replica of one on Sri Lanka from the mid 12th century: