HazelDiary

With our 5-DAY JR East Pass Rail, we decided to use 1 day to explore Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏). Ushiku Daibutsu is a statue located in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is completed in 1993 and it stands a total of 120metres (390ft) tall, including the 10m (33ft) base and 10m lotus platform. The statue held the record for the tallest statue from 1993-2002.

How to Get to Ushiku Daibutsu from Tokyo?

With the 5-DAY JR East Pass, you can take the train from Tokyo Station to JR Ushiku Station and head to the East Exit. Look for bus gate no. 2 to head to Ushiku Daibutsu. The bus journey will take approximately 20-30 minutes. The train journey takes approximately 2 hours from Tokyo city.
Available for purchase at Klook as well.

There is bus timetable for you to plan your timing. Upon arrival of Ushiku Station, we need to wait for 45 mins for the next bus to arrive so we decide to take a cab over and the cab fare was 7000 Yen ~S$86.50. It was quite expensive ride but we wanted to have more time to explore though. We took the bus ride back to the station after the visit. And you can use SUICA card to pay for the bus fare.




Explore Inside and Out Ushiku Daibutsu

There is an entrance fee applicable to get into Ushiku Daibutsu. You can purchase the ticket 700-800 Yen per pax depending on season before you can explore the place. We did a 1 min video to summarize our day trip to Ushiku Daibutsu.


Apart from the beautiful path towards the statue, you can also explore inside of the statue. An evelator lifts you up to 85m and an internal observation platform. If it’s clear day, you can even see Mt. Fuji but too bad we couldn’t see any on that day.




Upon walking into the statue, we are required to remove our shoes. Then, we start off on the ground floor where you witness the World of Infinite Light and Life followed by calligraphy room at upper floor and also display of over 3000 golden Buddhas. It was quite a surreal moment as we stepped inside.

There is a small retail corner where you can get souvenirs back for your loved ones. This is the last stop before you exit the statue.


Apparently, there are beautiful gardens including a pond full of koi around the compound. Children can also explore the small petting zoo right after you exit the statue. It is best to visit around September & October or May & June to witness the flower fields. You can search for more information from their official website.

Note: The final bus leaves at 4:00PM so make sure you don’t miss it.

Opening Hours:
March- September
09:30AM – 05:00PM
09:30AM – 05:30PM on weekends
October- February
09:30AM – 4:30PM
(No Entrance 30 minutes before closing time)

Entrance Fee (Adults)
April – November – 800 Yen
December – March – 700 Yen
Website: http://daibutu.net

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