Amitabha in the context of "Karuṇā"

Zenkō-ji (善光寺, Temple of the Benevolent Light) is a Buddhist temple located in the city of Nagano, Japan. The temple was built in the 7th century. It is one of the few remaining pilgrimage sites in Japan. The modern city of Nagano began as a town built around the temple.

Zenkō-ji was founded before Buddhism in Japan split into several different sects. It currently belongs to both the Tendai and Jōdoshū schools of Mahayana Buddhism, and is co-managed by twenty-five priests from the former school, and fourteen from the latter. The temple enshrines images of the Amida Buddha. According to legend, the image, having caused dispute between two clans, was dumped into a canal. It was later rescued by Honda Yoshimitsu. The temple was thus named "Zenkō," according to the Chinese transliteration of Yoshimitsu's name.

The Grand Buddha (simplified Chinese: 灵山大佛; traditional Chinese: 靈山大佛; pinyin: Língshān Dà Fó) is located on the north shore of Lake Tai, near Wuxi, Jiangsu within the Lingshan Scenic Area. It is one of the largest Buddha statues in China and also in the world.

The Grand Buddha at Ling Shan is a bronze Amitabha standing Buddha outdoor, weighing over 700 metric tons (690 long tons; 770 short tons). It was completed at the end of 1996. The monument is 88 meters (289 ft) in total height, including 9 m lotus pedestal.

Buddhism played an important role in the development of Japanese art between the 6th and the 16th centuries. Buddhist art and Buddhist religious thought came to Japan from China through Korea. Buddhist art was encouraged by Crown Prince Shōtoku in the Suiko period in the sixth century, and by Emperor Shōmu in the Nara period in the eighth century. In the early Heian period, Buddhist art and architecture greatly influenced the traditional Shinto arts, and Buddhist painting became fashionable among wealthy Japanese. The Kamakura period saw a flowering of Japanese Buddhist sculpture, whose origins are in the works of Heian period sculptor Jōchō. During this period, outstanding busshi (sculptors of Buddhist statues) appeared one after another in the Kei school, and Unkei, Kaikei, and Tankei were especially famous.The Amida sect of Buddhism provided the basis for many popular artworks. Buddhist art became popular among the masses via scroll paintings, paintings used in worship and paintings of Buddhas, saint's lives, hells and other religious themes. Under the Zen sect of Buddhism, portraiture of priests such as Bodhidharma became popular as well as scroll calligraphy and sumi-e brush painting.