Going ‘home’: Contested Buddha statue to return to Japan

A 14th-century Buddhist statue will travel from here to Japan on May 10 after Korea’s Supreme Court ruled it should be returned to the Japanese temple it was smuggled from, according to Japanese media outlets.

The handover will take place when the head monk from Japan’s Kannonnji temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki prefecture, visits Buseoksa in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The Korean temple, believed to be the real owner of the Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, maintains the relic was looted during the late Goryeo period (918-1392).

In 2023, the Korean Supreme Court ruled that Kannonji was the owner regardless of the statue’s origins, as it had “peacefully and openly” held the item for at least 20 years before it was smuggled out of Japan in October 2012. Since December that year, Buseoksa has been in possession of the relic after local police caught the smugglers.

Initially decrying the court decision, Buseoksa this year agreed to transfer the relic following a 100-day ceremony through Buddha’s Birthday on May 5 that included public viewing of the object.