We spent a couple of hours exploring Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple which has over 1200 carved stone figures made by the community. They were encouraged to create their own rakan statues (representations of Buddha’s disciples, not actually Buddha) as they wished so there is a HUGE variety of figures.

Some are in prayer while others have pets, babies, sunglasses, drinks and are laughing. It’s pretty fun to explore the temple and see all the characters. We did a challenge as a family for everyone to find a statue of each other (allocated before we went into the temple) amongst the hundreds. We even found Mario! It was a great way to entertain the kids – and us.