The many, many Buddha statues of Japan come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but this one in Nagoya has to be the most unique in terms of its colour.

Toganji is a temple located amidst a lot of vegetation but it is a vivid green structure which is the highlight of this fairly quiet area of Nagoya. The entrance path from the road leads you into the premises but the Buddha statue is still quite hidden away.

I even wondered if I had the right place but descend the steps to the rear of the temple and it will soon appear to the left. The temple was built in the 16th century by the lord of the nearby Suemori Castle, and was constructed in memory of his father.

It was moved to its current location in 1714. It actually wasn’t originally this shade of green but the whole body supposedly turned more vivid during renovation work in 1987. It’s not just the tint of green which characterises this Buddha but also the lips, eye line and ears which are an almost-comical gold colour!

It’s a very quiet and tranquil place and there’s a small table and bench in front of the Buddha to relax on and admire this relatively unknown wonder of Nagoya. Just to the side of the table is a huge hand sitting on some rocks which I presume relates to the typical Buddha hand gesture involving the thumb and index finger. As for the statue’s pedestal, there are ten elephants instead of the more common lotus flowers.

The address for Toganji is 2-16 Yotsuyatori, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It’s a six minute walk from Motoyama Station on the Higashiyama and Meijo Subway lines.

Click here to read ‘Nagoya: This City Is Fast Becoming My Favourite One In Japan’