School kids steal the show at Todai-ji

Todai-ji (or Eastern Great Temple) is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Japan. Todai-ji’s Great Buddha Hall is said to be the largest wooden building in the world and was originally built in the year 743. The hall enshrines the daibutsu of Todai-ji, which is a statue of Vaivocana Buddha made of bronze and stands nearly 50 feet high.

The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site and it gets very busy with tourists marvelling at its beauty and worshippers going about their rituals. However, something else was to draw everyone’s attention…

When you travel in Japan you’ll enevitably encounter school groups and in Japan different schools often wear something unique to their school – maybe a distinct uniform, or a cap, or in this case wicker hats. This group were clearly on a day trip with their teachers. It was a rainy day and the kids were led around in regimented columns of paired-up girls and boys holding hands (which I’m sure the boys didn’t like!). Due to the whether each one had a brightly coloured plastic rain coat on and little umbrellas.

One minute everyone was looking at the wonders of Todai-ji, the next everyone’s attention switched to the procession of these cute little Japanese kids and it was as if everyone forgot about the temple – awwww!

Here are some more pictures from Todai-ji in Nara, Japan:

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