ĐÀ NẴNG — Japanese Superior Buddhist monk Sagawa Fumon, head of the Todaiji temple, and 34 representatives presented a bronze statue of the 11-faced Avalositesvara Bodhisattva to Đà Nẵng’s Quán Thế Âm (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) Pagoda yesterday.

The bronze sculpture, a copy of the original in Japan, was created by Japanese Mizushima Iwane – a sculptor from Todaiji temple. It is 88cm high and weighs 33kg.

A prayer was also organised by the Japanese and Vietnamese Monks at the Quán Thế Âm Pagoda during the donation ceremony.

The visit marked the 1,300^th anniversary of Buddhist exchanges between Việt Nam and Japan, as well as the close relationship between the two pagodas in Đà Nẵng and Kansai, Japan.

Many pilgrimages have been exchanged by Buddhists from the Kansai region’s Todaiji temple and the Đà Nẵng-based pagoda since 2010.

Todaiji temple, or Great Eastern Temple, is one of Japan’s most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark in the Kansai city of Nara.

The statue was brought to Japan’s Todaiji temple by Indian Buddhist scholar and monk Bodhisena (704-760 AD)

The presentation of the bronze Buddha statue is among a series of cultural exchanges between the two pagodas and the people of Đà Nẵng and Japan.

The city’s People’s Committee has allocated an area of 1.2ha in Ngũ Hành Sơn District for construction of the Việt Nam-Japan Cultural Friendship Centre in Đà Nẵng, where cultural performances, fashion shows and bonsai exhibitions will be held. A Japanese language training centre will also operate there.

The city has completed a Japanese-English website called "Happy Đà Nẵng" aimed at boosting Japanese tourism in central Việt Nam.

The number of Japanese tourists visiting Đà Nẵng has rapidly increased: 66,000 Japanese visited the city in 2015, doubling the 2014 figure.

A direct flight route is planned to connect Đà Nẵng and Osaka, in Kansai, from next year with four flights per week.

In 2014, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines officially launched the first direct flight connecting Tokyo and Đà Nẵng with seven direct flights per week. — VNS