Japan has a quite a few "giant" things: giant cotton candy , giant ramen , and a giant rice scoop. It also has a giant Buddha. In fact, it has multiple giant Buddhas--and while the daibutsu at Todaiji Temple and in Kamakura are arguably more famous, the Ushiku Daibutsu, the third-tallest statue in the world , dwarfs them all. The Ushiku Daibutsu is in (surprise) Ushiku, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture, which is to the northeast of Tokyo. It sort of...sits in the middle of a vaguely themepark-like garden where, in addition to the Daibutsu, is a flower garden, some symbolic water features, and a....petting zoo? Even if you're just there for the Buddha, however, it's worth the trek. It's impossible to overemphasize how simply MASSIVE this statue, at 120 meters (393 feet) tall, feels. You approach it from quite a ways away and, as you get closer to its base, it truly seems to loom over and glare down at you. One of the factoids...