Side Trip to Katsuyama: Japan’s Tallest Buddha, Pagoda, and Castle
Katsuyama, a lesser known mountain town in central Japan is located in Fukui Prefecture, not far from the city of Fukui and Maruoka Castle. Katsuyama is home to Japan’s largest sitting Buddha statue, tallest pagoda, as well as the tallest castle in Japan. With all these stunning statues and beautiful yet massive architectural buildings, why is Katsuyama unknown to most tourists? Simple, the whole western portion of Japan is not the easiest for visitors to travel to. It’s far from Tokyo and Kyoto, train rides are not direct, and the media simply doesn’t mention these types of places. We recently went on a week long road trip through central Japan and made a side trip to Katsuyama on our way to Kanazawa. Katsuyama was one of the highlights of our trip and a visit to this small mountain town is highly recommended!
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Katsuyama is located in the Japanese Prefecture of Fukui. A Day trip to Katsuyama is manageable from the cities of Fukui or even Kanazawa. From Fukui, Katsuyama is just over a 30 minute drive and nearly 1.5 hours south of Kanazawa.
We rented a car and drove from Fukui to Katsuyama. For visitors that are lying on railway, there is a Echizen railway that has services between Fukui and Katsuyama Station.
The Highlights from our Trip to Katsuyama
For a town of its size, there is quite a bit to do and see around Katsuyama. I won’t even touch all the hiking and other outdoor activities in the surrounding area.
Our trip to Katsuyama started with a stop at the roadside station at Dinosaur Valley. We then drove to Echizen Daibutsu, a huge temple complex which houses Japan’s largest sitting Buddha statue. We also visited the pagoda within the temple complex, said to be the largest pagoda in Japan. We finished our visit of Katsuyama with a brief stop at Katsuyama Castle.
Roadside Station Dinosaur Valley
There is Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama that is apparently one of the top dinosaur museums in the world. Many dinosaur fossils have been found in this part of Japan. You’ll see random dinosaurs and dinosaur trinkets around town because of this.
If you are like us and time is limited, we skipped the museum this time around but we stopped at the Roadside Station Dinosaur Valley on our way into Katsuyama. The Roadside Station was worth a stop especially if taking a road trip to Katsuyama and beyond.
The Roadside Station had a small restaurant with seating indoors. There was also a small section outside selling produce and a shop with souvenirs, goodies, and other food items. I actually picked up a beer here called Echizen Fukui Roman Dark Ale by Koshiniso Brewing Co. and it was very good! There was a nice outdoor seating area, Jill and I sat at and enjoyed a brew. We also bought back some dinosaur snacks to the office from here and they were a hit!
Below are some fun dinosaur themed photos. The first one is of a construction fence and the other photo is the bathroom sign at the Roadside Station.
Echizen Daibutsu and the Seidaiji Temple
Perhaps one of the most impressive temples I’ve seen in Japan is Seidaiji Temple and the Echizen Daibutsu, only rivaled by Todai-Ji in Nara.
Echizen Daibutsu was built by Kiyoshi Tada in 1987. Compared to the temples of Nara, that are hundreds of years old, this temple is basically brand new. But don’t let the date fool you, this temple is home to Japan’s largest sitting Buddha, standing or shall I say sitting at a whopping 17 meters tall. That is 2 meters taller then the Daibutsu in Nara.
There are two large parking lots in front of the temple. Visitors then walk through a small temple village full of shops and eateries. Unfortunately, when we were here, this area was a ghost town. All the buildings were closed so I am not sure if this town took a hit because of Covid or if we visited in the off season.
After passing the shops we found ourselves at the Daimon or Great Gate. After passing the gate, we were both in awe by the Seidaiji Temple sitting in front of us. This temple that houses the Great Buddha was just massive. Inside the temple was the Echizen Daibutsu.
Within the Temple, stands the Great Buddha, there are also 2 Giant Buddha statues on either side of the Echizen Daibutsu . Within the walls of the inner temple were hundreds of other smaller buddha statues.
Not only is Echizen Daibutsu the largest Buddha in Japan, but the tallest Pagoda in Japan can also be found within this temple complex. Pagodas are tall multi storied structures often found in Buddhist temples.
The famous Tojo Pagoda in Kyoto stands at 55 meters. The Pagoda at Seidaiji Temple stands at an impressive 75 meters. Visitors can actually go inside this Pagoda and take either the stairs or elevator to the top. The views from the upper floor of the Pagoda are breathtaking! You can see most of the temple complex from here along with Katsuyama Castle in the background.
Katsuyama Castle
Katsuyama Castle is not an original castle. Actually, far from it. Like Echizen Daibutsu, Katsuyama Castle is fairly new and was built in 1992. Although this castle isn’t significant in any way it is still impressive and beautiful to look at. This is supposedly the tallest castle in Japan. To me, Himeji Castle looked much grander and taller then Katsuyama Castle, but maybe it’s from ground level, who knows? Regardless, it is worth a quick stop.
The castle does have a museum that has a few weapons and armor sets by Samurai warriors. The castle is open from 9:30 until 4:30 everyday except Wednesday.
Conclusion
Katsuyama is a hidden gem in Fukui Prefecture. The sheer size of Echizen Daibutsu and Katsuyama Castle make a visit to Katsuyama worth it alone. I could have stayed in Katsuyama longer, there is still much to explore like the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, hiking in the mountains, or skiing some of the nearby slopes. Katsuyama has much to offer.
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