This was the largest statue in the world! Sendai, Japan 🇯🇵

This was the largest statue in the world! Sendai, Japan 🇯🇵

Good morning from Cloudy Sai. Yesterday was nice. The German fell that was in the hostel. Nice fella. Um we’re yapping and then he said, “Do you want to grab food?” And I said, “Well, I saw a food market at the park yesterday.” So we took a stroll down there. I got a okonamiyaki, which is like cabbage and noodles all fried up with an egg and stuff like that and sauce. And um I got a fish on a stick, full fish, but had to had to keep an eye on other people eating it to make sure I didn’t have to eat the head. Luckily I didn’t. So that was nice. Went back having a little yap in the kitchen of the hostel. But uh today I have a good plan. I’m going to see a giant statue. Let’s go. So, it was last night just behind me was the food market and that’s where I got the fish And funny enough, as I said, I saw the guys not eating the head. That was fine. But I realized you’re supposed to eat the fins. Now, I did eat them. They were crispy because they’re it’s grilled, you know. But man, the grills were just covered in salt. The grills. The gills. No, the fins. Grills. Gills. Fins. The fins were covered in salt. And when I was eating them was like it felt as if you were supposed to take like a tiny bite of the fin with the salt on it. and then bite into the fish. But I didn’t realize I just took a chunk of the fin into me mouth and a man was just like eating a block of salt. But uh the rest of the fish was nice as I said. So I’m heading to a big statue now and I’ll tell you a bit more when we get there. But from what I’ve seen of it, it’s big, big, big. So, weather is good, atmosphere is good. Everyone’s out enjoying the sun while it’s lasting. Let’s go. Funny enough, I think I’ve got uh about an hour and a bit walk to get to the statue, and I can already see it from here. So, I’m quite excited. You wouldn’t have been able to see it when I turned the camera because it it’s too far for that to pick up. But maybe I’m underestimating how big it is. Or maybe when I get there, I’ll say, “Hold on a minute. That’s not that big.” We’ll see how it goes. It’s a nice little shrine, isn’t it? Just walking down uh this road. And I just happened to turn to look see was there traffic coming when I was crossing the light and just saw the stairway leading up here and the blossoms along the um stairs. So happy I come up here. Purple. Never seen a purple temple before. Or maybe I did. And just wait until you get a load of this statue. It’s gigantic. And the walk up here was worth it. It was very uphill. Very uphill. I’m pretty tired. It’s not as sunny now as it was earlier, but it’s very humid. So, I was sweating a lot, but not right now. It did flatten out for a while, but oh my god, I can’t believe the size of it, man. We’ll get a bit closer to it. Have to I think there’s an entrance fee, but that has to be worth it. So this monster, well, this monstrous creation is the Japanese Buddhist version of the goddess of mercy. Look at that, man. Look at the size of it. Now, including the base of it, it’s 100 m. It’s 91 m the statue itself, but the base is nine. And when it was built, it was actually the tallest statue in the world back in 1990 911. Man, look at that. It’s insane. Oh my god. 100 m, man. Oh my god. It’s like I was coming up towards I knew it was big, but I couldn’t see that forest. I was saying, “Gez, hold on. Maybe it’s not as big as I thought it was from the pictures that I’ve seen.” But I realized I was actually looking in the wrong direction cuz the road turns and brings it a different way. Then when I turned onto a proper road that I was supposed to be on, um could just see the head of it and like the head was towering over these big buildings. But when you’re standing up beside it, I mean I’m behind it now, but look at this thing. Oh my god. I know I keep going on about it, but I can’t believe the size of it. It’s a monster in the nicest possible way. I mean, the biggest statue in the world when it was built. That’s mad. Now, obviously, there’s bigger ones now, I’m sure, but like that must have set the standard. Oh my god, it’s crazy. So, I just came inside um the statue and it’s the hall the body of 108 Buddhas it’s called. Look at this. Oh man, so much detail. But you get a lift up to the 12th floor. Then you make your way down. And on each floor there’s um so many statues of Buddha, different Buddhas. So I’m looking forward to that. Apparently it takes about half an hour to complete it. But I think on the 12th floor there’s a lookout point. That’s pretty cool. Let’s see the whole city. And it’s bright today. Look at this. There’s so much detail in the statues like the fabric. You can see the creases and stuff like that in the fabric. There’s the dragon. We’re going to the 12th floor. Check this out. This is the direction I came from. All the way down there. I can’t actually see where I came from, but it’s that direction anyway. I’m not going to lie, feel a little bit insecure walking around the inside of this gigantic statue down a spiral staircase. I hate heights anyway. So, what you just saw of looking down wasn’t me looking down. It was just me stretching my arm out and kind of hoping that the camera caught what I wanted it to catch. I couldn’t look it over myself. I’d feel sick. So, I’m just not thinking about it. Look at this, though. It’s incredible the amount of statues in this building. Like I know a lot of like the temples have small statues um hundreds of them sometimes maybe a thousand but when they’re this detailed and big like statues in the little temples are often they’re tiny they’re like a action figure sizes you know um but these are must take ages to make even one of so I’m currently here at the 50 m mark. Just to give that some context, obviously the 50 m mark on this statue is halfway 100 m statue including the base. And when the earthquake struck underwater not far from here in 2011 and caused a tsunami, the waves of that tsunami reached up to 40 m. So almost half the size of this statue the waves got to. Imagine how scary that is to see coming towards you at such speed. It’s hard to think of 40 m in your head, but when you can measure it from this statue, like just say just under half of it, that’s massive. Now I feel safer. Luckily, there was a net at the bottom anyway. But to be honest, I think if something happened and I came all the way down there onto this neck, I don’t think it’s helping. I have to say, if anything, it might make it worse. Might kill me. Well, that was the Sai cannon or the die cannon, which it’s also known as. Wasn’t that interesting and gigantic? Well, look at it behind me. Jesus. So there was 108 Buddhist statues in that central uh spiral staircase. And in Buddhist teachings, humans have 108 desires. So each one of those statues is representing a human desire. And 10 of the statues were represented as being awake. And that’s to highlight the desires that you know about that we consciously desire. And the other 98 of them were represented as being asleep. So they’re the desires that you have subconsciously. It’s interesting when you’re walking around looking at them cuz I was wondering. Hold on a minute. Why are they uh why are their eyes closed? A lot of them, not all of them, of course, but now I found out at the end. So there’s a bit of information for you. I was just on my way back down to the city there and I noticed a couple of secondhand shops and I’m quite interested in seeing if they’ve got any old retro video games. So, we’re going to have a quick look in there on me way back. Well, Second Street store, that’s what it’s called. Hadn’t really got anything. PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch. That was it. There’s another one beside me now. So, I’m going to pop into that and check it out. So, this is the place that I saw on the way here. DVD, game, comic, hyper media store. I think they also do rentals for fun. Yeah. Box, drop off return for Torrens. Old school. Don’t you just miss those days, huh? Unfortunately, it looks like the No, unfortunately, it looks like the most retro that they’ve got is Nintendo DS. It was worth a try. Anyway, I’ll have another little look around. There is another shop nearby that definitely has older games. Hard off. Um, so I’m going to check there after here. Here, I’ll have a little look around just in case, but I think it’s all DVDs now. Hit the jackpot. Look, Nintendo 64 games here. Got Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, but Nintendo still. Game Boy, GameCube, more Game Boy, Game Boy Advanced, PlayStation 2, PlayStation One, all the accessories. Look at that, man. Wouldn’t find that at home. Ready to rumble for the classic. Well, that was successful. I got a boxed copy of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 for about €7. Can’t go wrong. So, the plan for now, going to walk back. It’ll take a while, but it’s all downhill. So, I’m going to walk uh back to the hostel. Throw this in. I might do me uh laundry as well, actually, while I’m there cuz I think this time of the day, it’s going to be 3:00 just say when I get back, just after 3. So, I don’t think the washing machines be too busy. I think a lot of people will be out at that time. So, probably um best idea just to get it done when I go in. I might even just have a shower then and then uh then I’ll pop out after I charge up my phone and camera for a bit. Uh pop back out and go for a little stroll around cuz it’s me last full day in Sendai. I leave tomorrow even though I can’t check in to the next place till 5. So, I might not. It depends. You see, I’m getting the bus. I’m not getting the train. I’ll have to just keep an eye on what times the buses go, but I’d like I wouldn’t mind being in Moroka for about half 2 or 3, that’s fine. Um, I think it takes about 2 and 1/2 hours to get there by bus from here. So, if I could get a bus at about 12ish, that’d be grand. I can’t reserve it online. You have to actually buy the ticket at the as you get onto the bus. Uh, which is fine. I’ll just be there early to make sure that they don’t sell out. Now, all rested up, laundry done, showered. Just going to take a little stroll down towards the train station area. I might get something to eat there. Few of the people in the hostel are nice, the people that are staying there, but uh they’re just eating stuff in the kitchen. So, I might just stop off at a convenience store and get something and cook at a um in the kitchen area, but I’ll have a look around forest anyway and see what what’s happening. You know, get an idea, see what you get off. Have you ever been walking along and you say to yourself, “Gez, I’m getting hungry. Love a bit of food.” Of course you have. Tell me this. Have you ever been walking along saying to yourself, “Jesus, I’m hungry. I’d love a bit of ox tongue from a vending machine. Well, if you have, then come to Japan. Come to Sai Oxton Tong. You can spend 500 yen and you can get a mystery um box that you can get up to 2,000 yen worth of Oxton Tong. And chances are you’ll only get 500 yen worth. Still, it’s weird, isn’t it? So, just went into 7-Eleven. Just got um got a drink. Got um like a chicken, rice, and tofu kind of stir fry type thing. And I got hot dog. I don’t usually get food like dinner from 7-Eleven. So, I like to kind of try a few different things out, but going to head into the hostel now and have a little chat with the other guests. So, I’ll catch you tomorrow. Man, I’m tired after that walk today. Tell you, all this walking is catching up with me.

Take a walk uphill with me to the former tallest statue in the world, then join me on a hunt for some retro video games!