For good luck people buy a figurine and write their name on it and leave it in front of this statue.  

The lower wooden card says " I want to become smart." 

 

31 meters tall, this is the largest old stone statue of the Buddha in Japan. Finished in 1783, it took 3 years to build. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brat brigade in Kurihara. 

 

 

Notice the interesting English here..... They did not mispell "head"....instead they used a strange translation of the Japanese "chuui" which means "attention!" or "warning!". "Heed" is here used as in the expression "give heed to".