TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
The Bamboo Shade is Lifted Once a Year- on January 28th – Revealing the 12th Century Buddhist Cliff Carving in Oda, Tsukuba (小田の磨崖不動明王立像),
26 January, 2021
For 364 days a year (365 in leap years) the cliff carving looks like this- covered with a bamboo shade
On January 28th each year the curtain is removed- and while a new one is being made, the rock-carving in the cliff remains in view (January 28th last year)
By Avi Landau
Halfway up a wall of sheer granite in the old village of Oda in what is now Tsukuba City, there is a Buddhist-cliff-carving (MAGAI BUTSU) which experts believe to have been created sometime in the 12th century. It is listed as one of Tsukuba City`s CULTURAL ASSETS, and I have also read about it in books on local history and seen it indicated on a HISTORICAL WALKING TOUR map of Oda (小田), a quiet backwater of a neighborhood which from the 12th