Japanese duo spruce up world's tallest bronze Buddha

Cleaner Kazuyoshi Taguchi (bottom) and colleague Kazumi Minowa clean the right ear of the Ushiku Daibutsu giant Buddha statue in Ushiku of Ibaraki Prefecture on Sept 9, 2024. - AFP

USHIKU: Emerging from the head of the world's tallest bronze Buddha and climbing down to its right ear, two specialist cleaners gave the imposing Japanese statue an annual spruce up Monday (Sept 9) to help it look its gleaming best.

Using high-pressure water guns, the pair blasted dust and bird droppings off the Ushiku Daibutsu monument, which soars skywards over Ushiku city, northeast of Tokyo.