Jizodo Hall 地蔵堂

Official explanation

The Jizodo Hall was built after Otagi Nenbutsuji was moved to its current location in 1922. It enshrines a statue of Enmei Hiyoke Jizo, a form of the bodhisattva Jizo said to protect against fire and to grant long life. According to the temple, the statue was carved in the Heian period (794–1185) and was worshipped as a protector from fire since then. It underwent repairs during the Edo period (1603–1867) and was altered in ways that matched the aesthetics of the time. The statue’s arms were later replaced by Nishimura Kocho, who used his expertise in sculpting and restoration to recreate how it may have looked in the Heian period.

On either side of Enmei Hiyoke Jizo are statues carved by Kocho himself, depicting historic figures important to the Tendai school of Buddhism to which Otagi Nenbutsuji belongs. The right statue portrays Tendai Daishi (Chinese: Zhiyi; 538–597), the Chinese theologian and founder of Tiantai Buddhism. The left statue is of Dengyo Daishi (767–822), also known as Saicho, the Japanese monk credited with establishing the Tendai school after studying Tiantai Buddhist teachings in China.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.