The unique Buddhist temple Otagi Nembutsuji (愛宕念仏寺) deep in a canyon in northwest Arashiyama in Kyōto has had a long and complicated history, but its distinctiveness today stems from the 20th Century when a head priest commissioned the carving of over a thousand stone rakan (羅漢, based on arhats, adept disciples of the Buddha). Each statue is unique, unlike the stereotype of Asians, and some are really funny. The moss in this shady side of the mountain also adds to their character, sometimes like hair.
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