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A statue of Gokiburiten (the cockroach god) at Rinsenji Temple in Nara Prefecture, Japan, on March 2nd. |
A giant bronze cockroach statue with muscular arms and a sumo wrestler-like pose is becoming a tourist attraction in a sparsely populated mountain village in western Japan, Kyodo reports.
The statue, named "Gokiburiten," which roughly translates to "cockroach god," was erected at Rinsenji Temple in Kamikitayama Village, Nara City, over 25 years ago. Initially, it served as a memorial to the pest insect. Today, the statue has become a quirky tourist attraction, drawing visitors from across Japan and many other countries, contributing to renewed attention to a rural community facing population decline.
Kamikitayama is located about a two-hour drive south of Nara City, nestled in a mountainous, forested area. Right at the entrance to Rinsenji Temple, visitors will encounter a 1.7-meter-tall bronze cockroach statue, a half-human, half-insect creature. The sculpture has six limbs, including four powerful arms outstretched and two legs firmly planted on the ground.
The sculptor of the statue is Hiroo Amano, 72, from Gifu Prefecture. He said he wanted to break the conventional image of cockroaches, creating a cockroach that "looks really strong." He drew inspiration from the dramatic movements in traditional Kabuki theater, incorporating rituals into the sumo wrestling arena. Therefore, the statue has a theatrical and symbolic appearance rather than a realistic representation. Amano also created a miniature city inside the statue's belly to reverse the perspective between humans and cockroaches.
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A panoramic view of the giant cockroach statue in the grounds of Rinsenji Temple, Nara City, Japan, on March 2nd. |
The statue was commissioned by Sono, a building maintenance company based in Osaka that has been involved in pest control for over 30 years, handling more than 2,000 cockroach extermination cases annually. Ryozaburo Minamisono, 84, the company's founder, said the idea stemmed from a desire to "create something unusual and crazy."
Minamisono has a long-standing and close relationship with the former abbot of Rinsenji Temple. This connection led to the statue being brought to the temple in November 2000. Over time, the "cockroach god" statue gradually became a unique local symbol. Many groups of young tourists regularly visit, while international visitors from China and Poland also come to this remote village out of curiosity.
Miho Kojima, the wife of the former head priest of the temple, said she has lived with the statue since its installation. Over the years, she has witnessed more and more people from other places coming to visit, transforming the quiet temple grounds into a place for socializing and conversation. "This statue is a source of motivation for me," she said.
According to Ms. Kojima, the project also helps connect local people with outside tourists, creating increasingly rare encounters in an aging and declining village. After more than 25 years, the statue's surface has become smoother and shinier thanks to time and repeated touches from visitors.
Ms. Kojima encouraged visitors to approach the statue at a relaxed pace and appreciate it as a work of art.
Source: https://znews.vn/tuong-gian-co-bap-hut-khach-o-nhat-ban-post1652473.html
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