Reid Main

After waking up at 8:30am and consuming the breakfast of champions, Pokémon themed donuts from Mister Donut, we started our pilgrimage to the Nanzoin reclining Buddha. A 41 metre long, 11 metre high, 300 tonne bronze statue. It is quite a ways out into the countryside so we had to make our way to Hakata Station and take the Sasaguri Line to Kido-Nanzōin-mae Station.

Based on the size of this Buddha you would think you'd see it from a mile away but amazingly it is sequestered in such a manner that you don't lay eyes on it until you are cresting the final steps, mere metres from where it resides. I honestly was in total shock as I walked up those stairs and saw the statue. I have watched numerous YouTube videos about it but nothing can compare to actually being there in person. We explored the temple and area around the Buddha for about an hour before walking back and jumping on the train to Fukuoka.

Next on the docket was to visit the second of Japan's three life-sized Gundams. An RX-93ff statue outside the LaLaport Shopping Park. Just like the massive reclining Buddha you really cannot appreciate the size of stuff like this until you're standing in front of it. We were able to walk right up to its feet and from some angles were struggling to even see the head. We also visited the Gundam Base inside the shopping park but held off on buying anything just yet because the thought of lugging gundam model kits from Fukuoka to Tokyo made my back hurt.

We rounded out the day by taking a train to Ohori Park and walking around for a little over an hour before heading back to our hotel. It was time to rest up because tomorrow was the most hyped day of our entire trip.