Restaurants and shops lined the main commercial street in the onsen town at Noboribetsu but when i was checking out the street view function on google map; something interesting caught my eye.
Who can miss this towering statue of a fearsome looking official with the character of "king" labelled on his head-wear?! Its open concept felt more like a purpose-built attraction rather than for religion. Nevertheless, i knew i had to pencil it down in my itinerary!
Up close with the gigantic statue - it's actually a robotic device and the arms can move as part of a scheduled performance held about six times on a daily basis from May to October.
Published schedule in summer!
Built in 1993, i couldn't dig out further information about this statue given my lack of understanding for the Japanese language and poor research skill.
Something you can buy for 100 yen; i didn't try as money doesn't fall from the sky and i doubt i can understand how to use / eat the thing that would pop out since the attraction isn't exactly 'English-language' friendly.
I do appreciate the effort to have the above notice, typed in English, Korean and Chinese, informing visitors that performances may be cancelled depending on weather conditions.
Can't recall what the urn was for; definitely not for incense sticks as in the case for many Chinese temples in Singapore.
This pointed to the traditional Chinese timing which divided a day into 12 zones which last two hours per zone; the needle indicated 巳時 which is from 9-11am.
According to comments on TripAdvisor, the face was said to be able to change during the performance with light and sound effects; dialogue was in Japanese though. :(
I had the fortune to catch it but gave up when it got too boring as the animatronics wasn't particularly intuitive and at that time, i was in a rush to check out of Takimoto Inn! Anyway, a short video for your viewing, if you wish.
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Location
Along Gokuraku Shopping Street,
Noboribetsu Onsen Town,
Hokkaido, Japan
Map
As above.
Admission Fee
Free
For our 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.
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