牛伏洞窟

Ushibushi dōkutsu - Ushibushi Cave

Useful Information

Location:	South of Takasaki.
Open:	NOV to FEB daily 9-16. MAR to OCT daily 9-17. [2020]
Fee:	free. [2020]
Classification:	Cave Church
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Ushibushi dōkutsu, Tahira, Yoshii, Takasaki, Tel: +81-27-387-3111,
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1983	converted into a park.

Description

牛伏洞窟 (Ushibushi Cave) is a small cave located on namesake Mount Ukibushi. It is part of the 牛伏山自然公園 (Ushibushiyama Nature Park). Ushibushi means "a lying cow", because the mountain resembles that form. The park and the cave are free, but the cave is closed by a gate outside open hours.

The mountain is composed of tertiary sandstone, conglomerate, and mudstone. And while this cave is called dōkutsu or limestone cave, which normally means a karst cave, this is actually an artificial tunnel with several niches. In those niches are weird sculptures of religious, especially buddhist origin. The main sculpture is of Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva, Guanyin in Chinese, or Kannon Bosatsu in Japanese. There are numerous Kannon Caves in the area, dedicated to this