Mindar, an android form of the bodhisattva Kannon built with Osaka University roboticist Ishiguro Hiroshi and unveiled at Kōdai-ji in March 2019, gives a sermon on the Heart Sutra in the temple's Kyōke Hall, with projection mapping.
Why it's unique
There is one Mindar. It was built with Ishiguro Hiroshi and unveiled at Kōdai-ji in 2019, and it preaches in the temple's own hall rather than in a museum or lab.
It has no AI: the 25 minute sermon was written by the temple's monks. Reactions are famously split between moved and appalled, and that argument is part of the visit.
Before you go
It has no AI: the 25 minute sermon was written by the temple's monks. It appears only on set dates, mostly weekends; October 2026: 3 to 4, 10 to 12, 17 to 18, 24 to 25 and 31, sessions 10:30 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 15:30 with the sermon repeating. The hall seats 50 and advance booking is currently suspended, so just turn up. Age 10 and up; no photography during the sermon.
There is a donation at the sermon. The temple is open 9:00 to 17:30, ¥800 adults, with an autumn night opening 23 October to 13 December 2026 to 22:00.
