With an area of 1.8 million square meters, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Sapporo and a popular tourist spot with the Great Buddha Hall, Moai Statue, and Stonehenge.
It aims to be a bright sanctuary and is filled with lavender and other colorful flowers.
Thirty-three moai statues stand guard over the cemetery. The largest stands 9.5 meters high and weighs 120 tons, and some of the benches around the cemetery are modeled after the moai statues.
The “mo” in moai stands for the future and the “ai” for life.
The park is also home to the Tou Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall), designed by architect Tadao Ando, moai statues, and Stonehenge.
The famous architectural structure, the Great Buddha Head, is located in the park. The head is hidden from the neck down by a concrete facility, so only the head can be seen from the outside. In summer, visitors can enjoy its collaboration with purple lavender, and in winter, it is beautiful covered with snow. Also popular is the main entrance.
One of the most famous buildings in the park is the Great Buddha Head, designed by architect Tadao Ando. This building is hidden from the neck down by a concrete facility, so that only its head is visible from the outside. In summer, visitors can enjoy the collaboration with lavender, and in winter, the snow-covered Tou Daibutsu is a charming sight.
Since its opening in 1981, the park has been dedicated to the goal of becoming a “bright sanctuary,” with beautiful flowers, monuments, and other attractions.
The park is home to the famous architectural structure, the Great Buddha Head. Designed by architect Tadao Ando, only the head is visible from the outside, as it is hidden from the neck down in a concrete facility. In summer, visitors can enjoy its collaboration with purple lavender, and in winter it is beautiful covered with snow. The popular moai statues and Stonehenge are also located at the main entrance.
It takes 40 minutes from Sapporo Station by car, or 1 hour and 20 minutes by train and bus. In addition, a graveyard bus or airport shuttle bus is available from the cemetery to New Chitose Airport. Makomanai Takino Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in Hokkaido, is easily visited by tourists, with walking paths, parks, and other green areas covering approximately 60% of the site.
The Tou Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall), which has gained popularity on social networking sites, was designed by world-renowned architect Tadao Ando.
Constructed from 57 souls selected and processed from 4,000 tons of raw stone, the giant stone statue of the Great Buddha has stood 13.5 meters high and weighing 1,500 tons in total since its inception.
A domed space was built under a small hill to house the Great Buddha’s head. Only the head of the Great Buddha can be seen through a hole in the middle of the roof.
Many people visit from all over the country for the artistic appeal of the sight, which is integrated with the lavender in summer and the silvery white hills in winter.
In front of the Daibutsuden, there is a water garden like a boundary, where water is used to purify the mind and switch the mind from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Behind the water garden, there is a tunnel leading to the Great Buddha, a series of curved concrete ceilings that represent a womb-like space surrounded by darkness.
Passing through this tunnel, one can look up at the soft face of the Great Buddha for the first time. Natural light streams in through the circularly cut sky, and this mystical worship space is a place where one feels as if one’s heart is being cleansed.
There is a café and store by the water garden, where you can enjoy a light meal, coffee, and purchase original goods.
The hill surrounding the Big Buddha is planted with 150,000 lavender plants, which are in full bloom from mid to late July.
The park is also home to a recreation of the British World Heritage Site “Stonehenge,” as well as stone statues of Zocho-ten, Hiromokuten, and a lion with human heads and wings.
The park has become well known overseas as a new tourist attraction in Sapporo, attracting busloads of tourists from abroad.
April - October: 7:00 - 19:00
November - March: 7:00 - 18:00
Big Buddha Head
April-October 9:00-16:00
November - March: 10:00-15:00
Open all year round
Lavender facility maintenance fee 300 yen
Subway Namboku Line Sapporo Station → 18 min. by car from Makomanai Station
Take the bus bound for Takino Reien from Makomanai Station bus stop #2.