Ryozen Kannon

I, unfortunately, made it to this site just after it closed. However, I did get to peek through the gate.

This is a memorial that is dedicated to the fallen on both sides of the Pacific War. It is an emotional place for some and a testament to the futility and loss for everyone associated with conflict. Visitors may place incense, provided at the entrance, in a large pot just past the reflecting pool.

Goddess of Mercy, the 24-meter concrete image, was built in 1955 by a Japanese construction company to honor the lost lives of World War II. You can enter the body of the statue and see the Kannon, the eleven-headed Goddess of Mercy.

Continue your tour of the Ryozen Kannon, Koyoto and you will find an altar that contains soil from every Allied cemetery from the Pacific theater of World War II. In a small chapel, you can find drawers of files containing the names of Allied soldiers and prisoners of war who died during World War II in Japanese territory. At the Gokoku Shrine, you will find a plaque honoring the kamikaze pilots of the Special Attach Units.