Aomori Shōwa Daibutsu

Yikes, only three days left of Christmas break for the kids and then back to our old routine. Aside from a few squabbles here and there it's been a pleasant break. We needed to get out of the house today even though it was COLD. So we set off to Aomori City to see the Big Buddha. I had been wanting to do this for a while and probably should have when the weather was a few degrees warmer, but I've been trying to convince myself that I need to embrace winter so we don't go insane for the next four months. Did I mention that this air base gets more snow than any air force base? Like, more than Alaska and other equally cold places?! Anyway, in our attempt to embrace our cold weather we set off knowing it may be a bit crowded because many Japanese visit Buddhist sites for the New Year Holiday.

We weren't too far off, it was crowded and cold, but also very beautiful and serene. We could see the top of this amazing five story pagoda from the road.

I've seen these pinwheels at Buddhist sites but not sure what their meaning is.

At 70 feet tall this is the tallest seated Buddha in all of Japan!

In the little enclosure in front is where the monks sit and chant and drum.

We were here maybe 45 minutes. Avie's shoes got wet and then she was done, so we'll have to come back in the spring. So much for embracing the cold. We're going skiing this weekend maybe we'll stay longer.