[Oita Art and Culture Tour | OITA Art&Culture] Introduction of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, etcSearch for ArtsMaki Odo Temple

At its peak many years ago, Makisan Denjoji Temple was one of the largest temples on the whole peninsula, a center for ascetic training. (If you would like to believe the legend, this is also where the ox with the wood from Fukiji Temple grew tired and refused to move any further with his load.) Today, however, it is most important for housing some of the finest examples of wooden Buddhist statuary in Japan—all Important Cultural Properties carved in the Heian period (794–1185).

Even seen in this contemporary structure, their presence is powerful and intense, befitting their exalted positions in Esoteric Buddhism’s pantheon. There is an aura of mystery however, for there is no clear record of where they came from or when—just another of the historical and spiritual enigmas that seem to haunt the mountains of the Kunisaki Peninsula.