On the 17th, at Kofuku-ji Temple in Nara City, the interior of the Nanendo Hall, where a national treasure Buddha statue is enshrined, was specially opened to the public, and many people came to worship.
Kofuku-ji Temple's South Round Hall is an octagonal hall and is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
The interior is open to the public only on October 17th every year, and you can see the wooden seated statue of Fukyu Kensaku Kannon Bodhisattva, both of which are national treasures, and the wooden standing statue of the Four Heavenly Kings, both made in the Kamakura period.
In Nara City on the 17th, it was raining from the morning, but people who visited the shrine formed a line of about 50 meters before the opening at 9 am.
People who entered the hall quietly put their hands together after taking a good look at the Buddha statue that can only be worshiped once a year.
A man in his twenties from France who lives in Nara said, "This is the second time I've seen this Buddha statue. It's wonderful because it looks like it's alive."
Parents and children in their 40s and 70s who visited from Tokyo said, "I came here because it is open to the public once a year. I am very happy to see it."