World Art Utopia

Sendai Daikannon — Daikanmitsuji Temple, Sendai

The enormous white Sendai Daikannon towers above cars, houses and utility lines on a city street.
Artwork FileSendai · Japan

Sendai Daikannon

ListedJun 2026

Daikanmitsuji Temple · 1991 · Sendai

At Daikanmitsuji Temple; sculptor not established in the checked sources. Image from Street Art Utopia; photographer and camera date unconfirmed.

A white-robed Kannon towers 100 metres above Sendai. The figure is also a place to enter: twelve interior levels hold shrines and a route past 108 Buddhist statues. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. A height with a meaningIts 100 metres commemorate Sendai’s municipal centenary. Source Checked
  2. Another 21 metres undergroundThe foundation extends 21 metres below ground, expressing hopes for prosperity in the 21st century. Source Checked
  3. A route through the statueThe interior has twelve levels. Visitors can take an elevator up and follow the stairs down past the figures. Source Checked
  4. More than one group of figuresLevels three through eleven contain 108 Buddhist statues; the first level also includes 33 Kannons and twelve divine generals. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Daikanmitsuji Temple, 31-36 Nakayama Minami, Sanezawa, Izumi-ku, Sendai, Japan Source Checked

Open in Maps

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1991

    Completion year recorded in the temple-supervised visitor listing

  2. 20269 Jun

    Temple-supervised Good Luck Trip listing updated; this is a listing date, not a dated photograph

Green stamps are dated photographs; amber stamps are records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates. A dated sighting does not guarantee the work remains in place today.

🗞️ In the sources

Daikanmitsuji TempleOfficial description

A temple inside a monumental figure

“The interior is divided into 12 levels”

The temple’s own description explains the interior arrangement.

Read the source →

Good Luck TripUpdated 9 June 2026

A presence above the neighbourhood

“住宅街に突如現れる大観音。”

A great Kannon appears suddenly amid a residential neighbourhood. Translation of the Japanese heading.

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Name
Sendai Daikannon (仙台大観音) Source Checked
Formal name
Sendai Tendō Byakue Daikannon (仙台天道白衣大観音) Source Checked
Completed
1991 Source Checked
Height
100 metres above ground Source Checked
Foundation
21 metres below ground Source Checked
Interior
Twelve levels Source Checked
Figures on levels 3–11
108 Buddhist statues Source Checked
Listing record
Updated 9 June 2026; not a camera date Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

At Daikanmitsuji Temple; sculptor not established in the checked sources. Image from Street Art Utopia; photographer and camera date unconfirmed.

Last checked: 23 October 2026 · How we verify art