This photo was taken at a Buddhist temple in Osaka, Japan. I don't remember which one. It depicts a stone column with the inscription "南無阿彌陀佛" (Hiragana: なむあみだぶつ, Romaji "namu amida butsu") in a cursive hand. The meaning of the inscription is "Hail to the Amitabha Buddha". In the Mahayana Buddhist Tradition, Amitabha is known as the "Buddha of Infinite Life and Infinite Light". According to that tradition, Amitabha was a monk or king who lived eons ago, and made a vow to help people be reborn in the "Western Paradise"
