Nagasaki: 3D Image Data of Buddhist Statue to Be Provided to South Korean Temple; For Creation of Replica of Original

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:42 JST, July 19, 2025

TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki — A temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, earlier this month provided a South Korean temple with 3D image data of a Buddhist statue, of which both claim ownership, so that a replica can be made of it.

The statue, Kanzeon Bosatsu Zazo (Seated statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon), was returned to Tsushima earlier this year, having been stolen from Kannonji temple and brought to South Korea in 2012.

South Korea’s Buseoksa temple had claimed ownership of the statue, which it said had been plundered by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.

Sekko Tanaka, 78, a former chief priest of Kannonji temple, said he was asked by Buseoksa temple and its worshipers, as well as the mayor of the city where the temple is located, to have the statue measured during exchanges over its return.

Since the statue is now stored at Tsushima Museum, there have also been calls from Kannonji’s parishioners to create a replica and place it at the temple, so the 3D data is expected to be used for that as well.

“I hope the replica will be treasured at Buseoksa,” Tanaka said.