Guardians of Jozaiji Temple 常在寺の守護像

Official explanation

Statues of the Buddhist guardian deities known as Nio stand that flank the main gate of Jozaiji protect the temple from evil. These deities are typically portrayed with bare-chested, muscular physiques, fierce facial expressions, and weapons in hand. The Nio always appear as a pair, one with mouth open and the other with mouth closed. The open mouth is voicing the sound “a” and the closed mouth is voicing “n”—the first and last sounds of the Japanese syllabary (originally a and hum in Sanskrit), representing the beginning and end, or birth and death.

The statues were carved in 1825 using locally sourced stone. The Shiotatsu area was long known for the quality of its stone and the skill of its artisans; similar stone guardian figures can be found in various locations nearby.

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.