Giant Buddhist goddess gets face mask

to pray for the end of the coronavirus pandemic 

Let us all hope it helps...

How about having four workers spend three hours to set up a vaccination site or something actually useful?

How about making some law and start actually fining people who are going around without wearing a mask?

I am tired of arguing with idiots at the store who wear a mask on their chin and some don't bother to wear it at all.

Even if they're vaccinated they can still transmit the virus to the rest of us, a little public education on TV and law enforcement can go a long way to curb the spread of infections.

53m is massive (!) It's four times the height of the Daibutsu at Kamakura and equal to a sixteen story building. Which begs the question of why build a massive thing out of an ugly material? Why give it planning permission? It has nothing to do with tradition. If you are going to build such a ridiculous thing, it is no less ridiculous to put a mask on it.

The statue, built 33 years ago

I don't know about this one in particular, but Japan has a number of large Buddhist statues built solely to attract tourists. There is one on the Niigata/Nagano border.

Mask mythology at its finest.

How about making some law and start actually fining people who are going around without wearing a mask?

They would have to change the constitution which is quite difficult.

You know what's a crime according to the law already? Harassing people minding their own business.

I think that data on the efficacy of masks is mixed at best. But yes, lets harass and fine and arrest people for not wearing them, even if vaccinated or previously infected.

"Buddhist goddess Kannon"

Its actually Bodhisattva Kannon.

Buddhism is an atheists religion which does not believe in the existence of gods, ghosts and spirits. There is terminology of gods, goddesses and devils in the Buddhist canon but it only refers to the positive or negative functions within our own lives.