Established in 1982, Makomanai Takino Cemetery is located in Sapporo, Japan. It differs from the traditional cemeteries with its different monuments. There are replicas of Stonehenge and Easter Island’s Moai Heads. There is a great Buddha statue located at the Hill of Buddha as well. The Hill of the Buddha is the work of the famed modernist architect Tadao Ando.
Stonehenge
The Stonehenge replica in the Makomanai Takino Cemetery is often hailed as the most complete copy of the original Stonehenge in England. It represents a Japanese tradition called Eitaikyo, a tradition of taking care of the graves to honor the dead and remind our connections to them.
Moai Heads
The iconic, straight-faced stone faces’ heights range from 6.5 to 9.5 meters and there are forty copies of them in the cemetery. These monolithic statues, together with nature, offer a serene moment of silence for the visitors.
The Hill of the Buddha
The Hill of the Buddha is the main draw in the area. There was a 13.5 meters tall Buddha statue located here before the Lavender Hills but Tadao Ando wanted to enhance the experience of visiting the statue. He installed a pantheon motif around the Buddha by burying its body under a hill covered with lavender, leaving only the top of the statue’s head visible from outside. The monumental hill’s construction began in 2013, commemorating the cemetery’s 30th anniversary. It was completed in about three years.
