Latest news with #KannonjiTemple
NHK
16-05-2025
- General
- NHK
Buddhist statue returned from S.Korea put on display in southwestern Japan
A special exhibition featuring a Buddhist statue recently returned from South Korea has opened at a museum in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki. The statue, designated by the prefecture as a tangible cultural asset, was stolen in 2012 from Kannonji Temple on the island of Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture. It was later found in South Korea and returned to the temple on Monday. On Friday, the special viewing of the artifact began at Tsushima Museum, which has taken custody of the statue due to security concerns. About 20 people were waiting to see the exhibition when the museum opened at 9:30 a.m. They admired the statue from various angles and took pictures. Murase Tatsuma heads a group that supports Kannonji Temple. He said he wonders if the Buddhist statue that had been missing for 13 years has found peace of mind in its new location. He expressed hope that this will be an opportunity for Japan and South Korea to develop closer ties. A woman in her 60s from the island said she thought the statue would never return. She said she came on the opening day because she wanted to see it as soon as possible. The special exhibition runs through June 15.
Japan Times
12-05-2025
- Japan Times
Stolen Buddha statue returned to Japanese temple after 12 years
A Buddha statue stolen in 2012 and taken to South Korea was returned to a temple on Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, on Monday. A ritual was held at Kannonji Temple to mark the return of the Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue after more than 12 years. It will be kept in a museum in Tsushima. The statue was stolen by a South Korean criminal group in October 2012, and was later recovered by the country's investigative authorities. However, a South Korean temple claimed ownership of the seated statue, insisting that it had been looted by "wako" Japanese pirates in the 14th century. In a lawsuit over the statue in South Korea, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the statue belonged to the Japanese temple. The statue was handed over to the Japanese side in South Korea on Saturday and arrived in Tsushima in the early hours of Monday.
NHK
12-05-2025
- General
- NHK
Buddhist statue stolen from Japanese temple returned from South Korea
Residents of a southwestern Japanese island have welcomed back a Buddhist statue that was stolen from a local temple and found in South Korea. The statue arrived at Kannonji Temple on Tsushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture on Monday for the first time since it was taken in 2012. The statue became the subject of a legal dispute after it was found at Busuksa Temple in central South Korea. The temple claimed ownership of the religious artifact, but the country's Supreme Court ruled that it belonged to Kannonji. The statue was handed over to Kannonji officials on Saturday after a service at Busuksa Temple. About 30 Kannonji members and regional government officials attended a closed-door service to mark the return of the statue. Priest Tanaka Setsuryo said he is relieved that the statue has come home and that it must find peace at last. Tsushima Museum, the statue's new home, will hold a special exhibition of the artifact from Thursday.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
A statue stolen from a Japanese temple is finally returned from South Korea
A 14th-century Korean Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago, has finally returned home. The repatriation, which took place on Monday, marks the end of a protracted legal battle between Japan and South Korea over the statue's ownership, a dispute that further complicated the already delicate relationship between the two countries. The statue's arrival was met with celebration. Dozens of Kannonji temple members and local residents lined the roadside, applauding as a truck bearing the statue, encased in a protective wooden container, arrived at the temple on Tsushima Island. Following a ceremony at Kannonji temple, the statue is expected to be housed at a local museum. The gilt bronze statue Bodhisatva — a female goddess of mercy — is depicted in a sitting position and measures about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in height. It has been designated a cultural asset of the region and was one of two statues stolen in 2012 from Kannonji by thieves who were looking to sell them in South Korea. The South Korean government had returned the other statue to the Japanese temple soon after the authorities recovered it from the thieves, who were arrested and charged. But the Bodhisatva got trapped in legal dispute after Buseoksa, a South Korean temple in the western coastal city of Seosan, filed a lawsuit, claiming it as the rightful owner. South Korea's Supreme Court in 2023 ruled in favor of the Japanese temple, ordering the South Korean temple to return the statue. After all the paperwork was completed in January, the statue remained on a 100-day loan to the South Korean temple for a farewell exhibit. Sekko Tanaka, a former head monk at Kannonji, told reporters that the handover ceremony at the South Korean temple on Saturday was 'truly amicable and we shook hands.' 'A calm after a storm,' he said, adding that he felt relieved to see the dispute resolved while he is still alive. Tanaka said he hoped South Koreans would visit Tsushima and discover its centuries-old cultural ties with Korea, though there will now be higher security around the statue. Japan and South Korea have long had disputes over Japanese atrocities during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, though their ties improved due to shared concern over regional security.
Japan Times
11-05-2025
- Japan Times
Stolen Buddha statue handed over to Japan in South Korea
A Buddha statue stolen in 2012 from a temple on Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, was handed over to the Japanese side at a temple in Seosan, central South Korea, on Saturday, people familiar with the matter said. The Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue, designated as a tangible cultural asset by the Nagasaki Prefectural Government, will be transported to Japan by air, and a memorial service will be held at Kannonji Temple, where it was stolen, on Monday. In 2023, the South Korean Supreme Court recognized the Japanese temple's ownership of the statue, rejecting the claim by the South Korean temple, Buseoksa, that it was robbed of the statue by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.
