A Buddha statue that was stolen from Kannonji temple in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, was returned from South Korea on May 12 after about 13 years.

The statue is designated by the Nagasaki prefectural government as a tangible cultural property.

In October 2012, a South Korean theft group stole it from the temple on Tsushima, an island located about halfway between Japan's Kyushu main island and the Korean Peninsula.

The sitting Buddha statue was later found in South Korea.

A South Korean court has since recognized that the item belongs to Kannonji.

A temple in South Korea that claimed ownership in the court case borrowed the statue for a farewell memorial service on May 10 before it was transported back to Tsushima.

The statue will be kept at Tsushima Museum after a memorial service at Kannonji.