Shiraishi-jima Island
Busshari Stupa
Sparkling White, Japan’s First Thai-Style Stupa
The conspicuous white tower in the precincts of the Kairyuji Temple is the Busshari Stupa.
In May 1968, the then head priest, His Holiness Phra Lurcher-Weti, and his entourage from the Wat Paknam Temple in Bangkok, Thailand, came to the island and enshrined ashes from the bones of Shakyamuni (a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded) and a 1,200-year old image of him at the Kairyuji Temple. Standing 24 m, the first Thai-style pagoda in Japan, the Busshari Stupa was constructed in November 1970. (A “stupa,” meaning “heap” in Sanskrit, is a type Buddhist tower, specially a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics.)
Overview
| Address | (Kairyuji Temple) 855 Shiraishi-jima, Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan 714-0036 |
|---|---|
| TEL | 0865-68-3014 (Kairyuji Temple) |
| Access | From the Sumiyoshi Boarding Dock at Kasaoka Port, take the regular passenger vessel (Sanyo Kisen) and travel 22 minutes (high-speed ship) to Shiraishi Port. |