Stolen Buddhist statue returned to Japan from S. Korea after 12 years

A 14th-century Buddhist statue, stolen in October 2012 and taken to South Korea, was returned to a Japanese temple on Monday, ending a dispute that had contributed to bilateral friction, a source close to the matter said.The statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, owned by Kannon Temple on Tsushima, a Nagasaki Prefecture island, was handed over in South Korea to people representing the Japanese temple on Saturday. The artifact is designated as a cultural asset by the prefecture.The statue, which was airlifted to Fukuoka Prefecture on the southwestern main island of Kyushu and then transpo…READ FULL ARTICLE