Turns out, even the Goddess of Mercy was no match for the powerful storm.
A photo that began circulating on Sunday (Sept 30) showed the 38-metre tall (about 8 stories high) Buddhist statue laying broken, face-down on the ground.
According to Sinchew Daily, the Kannon Bodhisattva (as the Goddess of Mercy is known in Japan) was officially unveiled only earlier this year at its current location in Okinawa's South East Botanical Gardens, after being relocated from Fukuoka.
Online, users on Reddit had a field day discussing the unfortunate "face-plant".
The fall was even more regrettable, given that the structure had reportedly been reinforced with steel bars with the exact intention of protecting it from natural calamities.
Damages to the gold leaf-covered statue are estimated to hover around the 100 million yen (S$1.2 million) mark. But knowing how well-known the Japanese are for their efficiency, we're sure this Goddess will be back upright in no time.
Four people have been killed in a powerful typhoon that battered Japan over the weekend, local media reported Monday, as the storm's aftermath brought travel chaos to Tokyo.
Local officials and police earlier said one of the dead was engulfed by a landslide in western Japan's Tottori and another drowned in high waters in Yamanashi, west of Tokyo.
Trami made landfall in western Japan Sunday night, bringing fierce winds and torrential rain to areas already battered by a string of recent extreme weather episodes.
The typhoon sparked travel disruption in the world's third-biggest economy on Sunday, with bullet train services suspended, more than 1,000 flights cancelled and Tokyo's evening train services scrapped.
Trami is the latest in a string of extreme weather and natural disasters to hit Japan, which has suffered typhoons, flooding, earthquakes and heatwaves in recent months, claiming scores of lives and causing extensive damage.
