“What can I do to make that stone Buddha be seen as a venerable presence that feels more solemn and yet also captivates people’s hearts?” When Yukio Takahashi of the Makomanai Takino Cemetery (Honorary Chairman of the public interest incorporated association Furusato Koen) approached me for advice, sights of the cave temples that I saw on my trips to Ajanta, India, and Dunhuang, China, immediately came to mind. The caves were created artificially by carving out the hard earth. When I stepped inside them, I could not make out the entirety of the caverns because of the darkness.