Title Mouth

  • Kanagawa
Topic(s):
Shrines/Temples/Churches
Medium/Media of Use:
Pamphlet
Text Length:
≤250 Words
FY Prepared:
2019
Associated Tourism Board:
Kotoku-in
Associated Address:
4-2-28 Hase, Kamakura-shi , Kanagawa

優しく結ばれた像の口は阿弥陀如来の果てしない憐れみを示しています。唇の上には小さな口髭があります。ギリシャとアイルランド人作家のラフカディオ・ハーンは日本に移住し、小泉八雲という名で親しまれています。彼は昔話や日本文化の他の様々な観点を西洋に紹介しましたが、大仏の口が不思議に美しい東洋的微笑を浮かべていると紹介し、とても有名になっています。


Mouth


The Great Buddha’s mouth is gently closed in a manner that is meant to suggest Amida’s boundless compassion. The shape of the upper lip is emphasized by a small moustache.

The writer Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904), who was a naturalized Japanese citizen and adopted the name Koizumi Yakumo, introduced folk tales and many other aspects of Japanese culture to the West. He famously described the expression of the Great Buddha as a mysteriously beautiful “Japanese smile.”


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