The one thousand Buddha statues of Sendai

First a little bit of history… When Date Masamune made Sendai his capital in 1600, the name of this city was written as 千代 (which literally means "a thousand generations"), because a temple with a thousand Buddha statues (千体 sentai) used to be located in Aobayama.  Masamune changed the kanji to 仙臺, which later became 仙台 (which is literally "hermit/wizard", "platform/plateau" or more figuratively, "hermit on a platform/high ground"). The kanji was taken from a Chinese poem that praised a palace created by the Emperor Wen of Han China, comparing it to a mythical palace in the Kunlun Mountains. It is said that Masamune chose this kanji so that the castle would prosper as long as a mountain inhabited by an immortal hermit.

To my surprise, these one thousand statues (or ‘sentai’) still exist in Sendai today. They are kept at a small temple called Daiman-ji at Mukaiyama, next to Atago shrine. Because I am very interested in history (especially of the place where I live), I visited this temple last month.

The temple is about a ten minute walk from Atagobashi station. Once you get to the main gate, it is quite a hike up the many steps to the top of the hill. On the way, a unique pet cemetery can be seen. At the peak, we can find the main temple complex overlooking Sendai city and one of these halls houses the statues. Unfortunately, this hall was locked and we couldn’t enter. There was, however, a grounds keeper taking care of the main hall. We asked him if it was possible to see the 1000 Buddhas. He told us that they usually open the hall on special days for public viewing, but he was nice enough to open it especially for us. 

The wooden Buddha statues are kept behind glass in the small hall. They are only about twenty centimeters tall, but even at first sight they are impressive. There are one thousand statues standing in rows, with around four hundred originals, dating from before the time of Date Masamune, and the remainder modern replicas.   The original statues are beautifully detailed and the wood is of a darker tone than the newer ones. The room is dark and the general ambiance is overwhelming.

It was a very rewarding experience to see the small wooden figures that hold so much relevance in the city of Sendai. I can truly recommend a visit to this temple (even if you are only slightly interested in history), but make sure that the hall will be open on the day you go there.

The easiest way to get there is to take the subway from Sendai station and get off at Atago Bashi station (2 stops). Then go up the stairs to Atago shrine. From here you can walk through to the temple.