They stood guard at six entrances into Edo, smiling benignly at
samurai and merchants, pilgrims and courtesans, rōjū and rogues. The names
of the roads that carried these travellers are redolent of history: Tōkaidō,
Nakasendō, Ōshū Kaidō. You read it, and you recall woodblock prints of weary wanderers walking with bowed heads into cold rain or stopping for a rest at a
wayside inn.
 |
Edo Roku Jizō at Honsen-ji. Jizō carries a staff with six rings that jingle
to warn animals of his approach and to prevent mutual harm. |
A nomad hears
the whisper of the roads and her feet start itching, but we'll have to stay inside
old Edo for today's story: we're going to focus not on the roads, but on six
Jizō (地藏) statues that were erected to offer thanks for a life saved. Here’s the story:
Mukashi
mukashi, once upon a time, a young Jizō priest who lived in Fukagawa was struck
by an incurable¹ disease. The young man, who was called Shōgen (正元), and
his parents prayed to Jizō for mercy, and when a miracle was granted and he recovered,
they constructed Jizō statues at six different locations in Edo. The six
statues were cast by Oota Suruganokami Masayoshi (太田駿河守正義), and donors' names were inscribed on the lotus-shaped pedestal of
each statue.
 |
| Jizō at Reigan-ji (my favourite photo) |
Originally
the six statues stood next to these roads, with their present-day locations
included:
Tōkaidō, the road along the
southeastern edge of Honshū, Honsen-ji
(品川寺) in Shinagawa
Kōshū Kaidō, the road from
Yamanashi, Taisō-ji (太宗寺) in Shinjuku 2-Chōme
Nakasendō, the road from
Kyoto, Shinshō-ji (真性寺)
in Sugamo
Ōshū Kaidō, the road from
Fukushima, Tōzen-ji (東禅寺) in Higashi-Asakusa
Mito Kaidō, the road from
Ibaraki, Reigan-ji (霊巌寺) in Shirakawa
Chiba Kaidō, the road from
Chiba, in Monzen-Nakachō
The first
five Jizō statues
survive to this day; the sixth one was destroyed by the anti-Buddhist movement
during the Meiji period. Some sources say that a Jizō statue at Jyōmyōin (浄名院) in Uenosakuragi has
been chosen as a substitute, but the style is clearly very different.
Why
six? Especially given that Edo had five famous highways²
known as the
Gokaidō (五街道)? I couldn't find confirmation, but my guess: Jizō assists beings
in the six realms of desire and karmic rebirth, and is therefore often shown in
a group of six.
 |
| Six Jizō statues grouped together at Tobi Fudō-son |
 |
| Six Jizō statues at a temple in Yanaka |
Incidentally,
the storyteller in me has fallen in love with the six realms: hell, hungry
ghosts, animals, bellicose demons, humans, heavenly beings. I suspect I got
stuck with the bellicose demons …
More about Jizō
Jizō, popularly
known as O-Jizō-sama, is arguably the most popular deity in japan. He's the patron
saint of expectant mothers, women in labor, children, firemen, travellers and
pilgrims. He has a long history and has many appearances, but in
contemporary Japan he is often portrayed as a small statue with a childlike
face.
He's
personalized to a greater extent than most other deities, in other words,
worshippers have a very intimate relationship with him and have very specific requests.
As Ian Reader and George Tanabe write in Practically
Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan, "Jizō is near
at hand, dearly loved, and called by many names and nicknames that allow people
to identify with him on a personal basis." (Another deity who shares this
characteristic is Inari, the god of rice and fertility.)
1) Despite
laborious Googling, I haven't been able to ascertain the cause of his illness.
Wow, you have been walking! It's a nice season to walk around in Tokyo if you can stand the cold... clear blue sky and a lot of sunshine. (^^)
ReplyDeleteDo you know the story "Kasa Jizou"? When I was little, I liked it very much. I wanted to give straw hats to Jizou, like Ojiisan in the story. But there were no Jizou around my house, and it rarely snowed in Matsuyama.
Winter is great for walking and perfect for photography. I put on two ski jackets on top of each other, and then I hit the road. I can walk for a long time without getting tired, but my nose gets very cold! :)
DeleteI've read the story of Kasa Jizō. It's a lovely story. I'm imagining a little girl wishing it would snow ...
PS: Everybody, if you want to read about Kasa Jizō, here's a Japanese link:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese/Reader/Kasa_Jizo
Here's an English link:
http://sera38.tripod.com/jizostory/Stories.htm
Love jizo and this post. Why do you think you got stuck with the bellicose demons?
ReplyDeleteSharp-elbowed shitamachi obaasan = bellicose demons.
DeleteDemanding senior businessmen in my business classes = bellicose demons.
Tokyo's crows = bellicose demons.
(^0^)
Amongst all the photos you put here and the story, the one that caught my eyes and tug my heart is the photo of the toy cars. Can't help but feel... sad(?) somehow.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Kasa Jizo" story too. :)
But this post actually reminded me of an episode of Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro (what else, coming from Lina?) about how a jizo (or something) helped a child whose mother was bedridden. The little girl always makes a point to cover the jizo by giving it umbrella and stuff when it rained or snowed and one day in return, the jizo visited her mother who was in a hospital and her mother woke up. It's an anime. It's Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro... but I cried.
I'm such a crybaby.
I thought you'd notice the photo taken at the Mizuko Jizō ...
DeleteThere are so many beautiful stories about Jizō. He's such a lovely, kind, merciful deity that it's no wonder he's so beloved.
Now, of course, I want to see that GeGeGe episode! ^^
Oh dear, can't remember exactly which season or which episode though. :-D
DeleteI don't think it would be too much of an ordeal to watch them all! ;)
DeleteOh my gosh Lina I remember that episode, one of Kitaro's sad and moving episodes ive watched (yes i do watch that too and the many other animes unless my Isabella took over the telly to watch her Eh-Mo or Pocoyo ..)
DeleteSo many books to read, so many videos to watch, so many temples to visit. I need 10 000 reincarnations! ^^
DeleteWow quite a comprehensive post on Jizo. Bananaz not very sure all the six Jizo are the same one Jizo or 6 different Jizo? Googled and found Jizo Bosatsu is the Mahayana version of DiZang Wang Pusa who also carried the staff with the six rings. DiZang was that Buddhist monk who was made famous by the story & movies "Journey to the West" with the Monkey god & two other disciples.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, the Six Edo Jizō are the same. They even look remarkably similar, except for small differences like nails! :)
DeleteWikipedia says Di Zang Wang Pusa is also called Ksitigarbha. I've mentioned it before on my blog, but the mythology links between India, China and Japan are beyond fascinating (to me).
I spotted your comment about Tripitaka below, so ... wait ... a bit of Googling is called for! :D
Oops. I should more accurately say the remaining Edo Jizō are the same and look the same. That replacement at Jyōmyōin looks different.
DeleteWhoa whoa whoa you & your little silver beetle haha. Phew you even noticed the finger nails. No money bags on roof tops so not all temples will have the money bag?
ReplyDeleteThe money bag is only on Matsuchiyama (and related temples). Other temples have other stuff on their roofs, like foxes or dream-eaters. ^^
DeleteAgree with you at eye level things could be boring than those up or down when I read the dream-eaters. Lots of exciting stuff at the roof tops even fishes are high up haha.
DeleteThe only problem with always staring upwards is a vast collection of bruised toes and skinned knees! :D
DeleteSorry sorry sorry got a little mixed up with Xuanzang aka Tripitaka with DizangWang Pusa as both are totally two different person no doubt they carried a staff. Xuangzang was the monk in 'Journey to the West'. Probably Saturday night fever got a part to play here for the confusion haha. Thousand apologies.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia says Jizō is based on Ksitigarbha (Di Zang Wang Pusa).
DeleteMark Schumacher writes: "Jizō's earliest association is with Prthvi (Prithvi), a Hindu goddess who personifies the earth and is associated with fertility."
I didn't know about "Journey to the West", but you can bet your butt I'm going to read it now! Or rather, I'm going to read Arthur Waley's translation "Monkey". It's a bit shorter. :D
there's a drama on Journey to the west (countless as a matter of fact) but there's one that had SMAP member, Shingo in it. :-D
DeleteMonkey god aka Wukong is my favorite deity maybe due to my early influence with due respect to my late mama who flung her biology said Bananaz was a manifestation from a stone by Monkey god and that's how I was born. Or perhaps could be the super powers of Monkey god and his witty mind of 72 transformation got me hooked. During my wedding dinner I have created my first slide header in my powerpoint video replacing the title "[...West]" to "Journey To The WED" together with the Monkey god pixz as well. Guess bananas & monkey get along bananaz-ly well haha.
DeleteLina, err, I'm not so sure I'd want to watch an old Chinese myth with Shingo in it. As a matter of fact, I'm not so sure I'd want to watch ANYTHING with ANY member of SMAP in it ...
DeleteOK, to be fair, I rather enjoyed Inagaki Goro as crime solver Kindaichi Kosuke. ^^
DeleteBananaz, you're descended from gods? ;)
DeleteWhat 72 transformations? Man, I really need to read this story ASAP.
I love the idea of a wedding video that's based on Chinese ythology!
Ythology? Gaaa. Mmmythology.
DeleteYthology is an epistemological discipline that seeks to answer that most vexing of all questions, why? Heh heh.
Now Ru, KimuTaku ain't bad to watch. ;p
DeleteUsed to love that guy's dramas. Can't say much about singing though. xD
Wukong potrayed by Stephen Chow and Dicky Cheung are super fun to watch. ;)
Monkey god can transform into a bee, a fly, a dragon, a lady etc. Here is a video on the trailer of Journey To The West
DeleteOops. It's taken me five days to respond to your comments. That has to be a new record, even for African time.
DeleteLina, jaaa, orraait, I can understand why Kimutaku is (or was?) selected as Japan's handsomest man year after year, but I'm afraid he does nothing to my perimenopausal hormones. :p
Stephen Chow and Dicky Cheung? Wait. Google!
Bananaz, thanks for that video! I'm now hell-bent on seeing that movie! ^^
DeleteDid you come to Sugamo? Shinshoji is very near from our house. If I would know, I would invite you in our house.
ReplyDeleteThere would be few people praying the Jizo. Many people would go to Togenuki Jizo.
Did you buy a good luck bell shaped charm in Honsenji. The bell in Honsenji exhibited at Paris International Exposition in 1867. But it was the same year of Meiji Ishin（明治維新). The bell was missing,and then it was found in Geneva. Then the bell came back to Honsenji.It means 鐘帰る（かねかえる）. It means 金帰る（かねかえる）too.If you bought the bell shaped good luck charm, you would receive a lot of money from everywhere. Actually I bought the charm.
BTW, Six is good number in Buddism. There are many 六面石幢（ろくめんせきどう）in mamy temples.
I visited Sugamo to buy 赤パンツ for my mother! :D Then I walked to Nishi-Nippori, and then to Yanaka. I love that area in the curve of the Yamanote Line.
DeleteI didn't know about the bell-shaped charm! Oh well, no problem, I can walk back to get one.
I've read that stone lanterns have six sides, but I didn't know that term 六面石幢. Now I want to read more about the number six. Thanks for telling me!
PS: You bought a charm? So ... you got lots of money? :D
PPS: You don't have to buy a charm. You're charming enough already!
I didn't know that there was a stature for kids It' s very valuable
ReplyDeleteJizō loves children! His statues often hold a small baby (or lots of babies). I think it's totally impossible to dislike Jizō. :)
DeleteThe 6 statues are cute and I saw your silver beetle car! I am wondering if you are a Buddhist as well? I am.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this interesting post.
I can't call myself a Buddhist because I don't practice it actively, i.e. I don't go to a temple and follow the rituals. I do study it in my own way and I practice zazen (meditation).
DeleteI usually refer to myself as agnostic, but of all the faiths or philosophies in the world, Buddhism appeals to me the most.
I love the photos looking up at the Jizo's face in an angle from the side, half hidden by the hat... Unearthly and sad and calming all at once.
ReplyDelete"Unearthly and sad and calming all at once." That's a perfect description. Exactly!
DeleteHi there, passing through from Lina's blogsite. I was fascinated with her Jizo blog and it brought me here. You've done such a great and detailed blog about the deity and the photos are absolutely fantastic. My favorites has to be the 2nd photo which is your favorite, the expression is just so calm and serene to me ..reminded me of the Bayon (a bit) and the other is of the little toy cars (just like Lina). Are some of the statues made to have long fingernails or is that a mystery?
ReplyDeleteHallo, cuteandcurls, and thanks for commenting! ^^
DeleteI've never been to Angkor, but I've seen so many photos of those quiet, tranquil, mysterious smiles.
I didn't try to find a reason for the longer fingernails, because I simply assumed it had something to do with the casting process. To the best of my knowledge, nails have no special symbolic significance; long earlobes, on the other hand, indicate wisdom and compassion. (Take a look at the statues' ears!)