One Group of Stone Buddhas, Designated by the State in 1934
Ogata Miyasako West Stone Buddha (緒方宮迫西石仏, Ogata Miyasako Nishi Sekibutsu) stands at 38-3 Kudochi and adjoining lots, Ogata-machi, Bungo-Ono City, Oita Prefecture, stone Buddhas said to date from the end of the Heian period, designated by the state on 22 January 1934. Its category is that of historic sites.
The managing body is Bungo-Ono City.
The city records that they are said to have been made at the end of the Heian period by Ogata Koreyoshi, head of the Ogami clan of Bungo warriors. The head of a clan led its several branches.
Three Buddhas Sharing Past, Present and Future
Three Buddhas stand side by side, each taking charge of a different time.
The city records Amida, Shaka and Yakushi, from right to left as one faces them.
It continues that this is a triad in which the next life is entrusted to Amida, the past reflected on through Shaka, and the present life placed in the hands of Yakushi.
Amida receives the dead into his world, Shaka is the Buddha who opened the teaching, and Yakushi is the Buddha who takes away sickness and suffering. Set together, the three cover past, present and the life to come.
On the Shimotoriwata memorial stone, the Amida triad shows Amida with two attendant bodhisattvas: a triad centred on one Buddha.
Here all three are Buddhas, and three different Buddhas at that. The same word triad names an entirely different grouping.
A Different Company of Figures 200 Metres Away
Nearby stands another group of stone Buddhas designated on the same day.
The city records that the west group lies 200 metres south-west of the east group.
The east group, it records, has Dainichi at the centre, Fudo on the right and Bishamonten on the left, with guardian kings carved at either side.
Both are said to be the work of the same clan head, and both were designated on 22 January 1934. Yet the west has three Buddhas, while the east sets Dainichi with a wisdom king, a heavenly guardian and gate guardians: the companies differ.
In the Edo period the east group was worshipped as Yakushi, and locally it was a guardian of cattle, people leading their cattle to pray there, the city adds.
East and west are designated as separate historic sites. This article is about the west group.
Bright Colour Still Remains
On Buddhas cut in stone, colour can still be seen.
The city records that bright colour remains on the west group.
Colouring is the finishing of figures with paint. On figures said to date from the end of the Heian period, that colour survives.
At the Nakanobo Inari shrine, colour applied over the whole frame enters the assessment; that is a small shrine of the late Edo period.
Here colour survives on stone Buddhas in the open.
The page in the national online heritage database has an empty commentary field. What this article says of the figures rests on the city's record.
Visiting
The site lies at 38-3 Kudochi and adjoining lots, Ogata-machi, Bungo-Ono City, Oita Prefecture, with the city as managing body.
The east group stands at 71 Kudochi, 200 metres north-east of the west group.
That the clan head made them is tradition, and the record presents it as what is said.
These are stone Buddhas in the open, so whether and how they may be visited follows the arrangements of the managing body. Check before travelling.
The designation came in 1934, and the managing body was appointed the following year.
Q&A
- When were they designated?
- On 22 January 1934, by the state, as a historic site.
- Which Buddhas are carved?
- Amida, Shaka and Yakushi, from right to left as one faces them.
- Does the arrangement have a meaning?
- The city calls it a triad in which the next life is entrusted to Amida, the past reflected on through Shaka, and the present placed with Yakushi.
- What is the east group?
- A separate historic site 200 metres north-east, with Dainichi at the centre, Fudo, Bishamonten and guardian kings.
- Who made them?
- Tradition gives them to Ogata Koreyoshi, head of a clan of Bungo warriors, at the end of the Heian period.
Basic Information
| Name | Ogata Miyasako West Stone Buddha (緒方宮迫西石仏, Ogata Miyasako Nishi Sekibutsu) |
|---|---|
| Location | 38-3 Kudochi and adjoining lots, Ogata-machi, Bungo-Ono City, Oita Prefecture |
| Designation | Historic site; designated as an archaeological site rather than as a building or a work of art |
| Year Designated | 1934 (22 January), designated |
| Quantity | 1 group of stone Buddhas (Amida, Shaka and Yakushi) |
| Dimensions | No measurements of the figures are in the records to hand. A triad of Amida, Shaka and Yakushi from right to left, with bright colour remaining. The east group lies 200 metres to the north-east |
| Owner | Not stated in the record (Bungo-Ono City is the managing body) |
| Public Access | Stone Buddhas in the open; visiting follows the arrangements of the managing body |
References
- Bungo-Ono City: nationally designated cultural properties
- https://www.bungo-ohno.jp/docs/2015030100048/
- Cultural Heritage Online: the west group
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/173865
- Cultural Heritage Online: the east group
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/212030
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.22