Daien-ji Temple

Daien-ji is a place of deep faith, and is known in Tsugaru as “Owani no Dainichi” (the supreme Buddha of Owani). The main hall is lined with Buddha statues, and in its depths houses the principal image of the Buddha, the Dainichi, a nationally designated Important Cultural Asset itself. However, this statue doesn’t actually represent the Dainichi Buddha, but Amitabha Buddha. The reason this statue of Amitabha Buddha came to be renamed and worshipped as Dainichi remains a mystery. The statue of Amitabha Buddha is carved from cypress wood, and they say the style shows it was made at the end of the Heian or early Kamakura period.