Kirk here with crime news. This is a wooden statue of Pindola Bharadvaja, known as Binzuru Sonja (びんずる尊者) in Japanese. It was located in Zenkoji (a temple) in Nagano until it was stolen this morning, apparently by a man from Mifune. The statue has been recovered with the arrest of the man and, according to reports I heard, has not been harmed.
Here’s a paragraph from Wikipedia about Pindola Bharadvaja:
“Pindola Bharadvaja is an Arhat in Buddhism. According to the earliest Indian Buddhist sutras, Pindola Bharadvaja was one of four Arhats asked by the Buddha to remain in the world to propagate Buddhist law. Each of the four was associated with one of the four compass directions.”
The faithful are allowed to touch the statue, wearing down the surface of the wood. It is believed that touching part of the statue will heal the corresponding part on your own body.
The image was taken from this page: https://www.zenkoji.jp/about/jin/