“This phenomenon appeared as interesting to me – the Buddha statue as both a part of popular culture, and indicative of people’s quest for a healing power to ease the anxiety and stress of contemporary living. For me this linked together with Ultraman, the superhero of my Japanese upbringing. Ultraman, the lead hero in the Japanese anime of the same name, only appears on earth for a short time to fight the monsters ruling over earth. Ultrabuddha brings together such desires for a healing force, and their commercialisation in popular culture. He is the incarnation of a complex contradiction – a spiritual quest to find healing powers that may save ourselves and our planet, and the commercialisation of this quest within a commodified popular culture disconnected from any body of spiritual knowledge that is grounded in place.”