Public allowed once-a-year visit to statue

Well-wishers visited a Buddhist temple in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on Friday to pay their respects to a medieval statue that is only shown to the public for one day a year.

The stone statue of a Buddhist deity, Fudo Myo-o, is enshrined in a cave on a 17-meter cliff at the back of Miyadasan Fudoji.

The temple allows people to view the statue on January 28th every year, the festival day of the deity.

Visitors prayed and offered candles before the 1.6-meter statue, which was created in the mid-13th century and is designated as an important national cultural asset.

A man from Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, says the statue makes him think of the time it was created.

He also says he will be able to have a good year because he got a chance to see the statue.