buddha by the old shopping street

Tokyo , 2010.04.05

The never-ending shopping street that passes near my home has an illustrious history. It's one of the five Edo-era highways that fed the old capital city. A place intended not only for transportation and accommodation but also a gathering place for tax-paying, partying, and everything in between. It's called the "old eastern sea-shore highway" (旧東海道).

This statue of Buddha is on the property of one of the countless temples and shrines that mark the length of the old highway. I like it for its elegant design, human scale, unostentatious placement, and the way it fits with its surrounds.

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