Jizo Statues 並び地蔵

Official explanation

These statues are all of the boddhisatva Jizo, the guardian deity of children and one of the most popular Buddhist deities in Japan. Jizo statues can be found throughout Japan, most often along roadsides, or in graveyards. Statues of Jizo may be identified by the red cape that they wear. It is said that each of the hundred disciples of Tenkai (1536–1643) donated one of the Jizo statues. The statues are a prayer for the peaceful repose of the souls of the dead and for their achievement of enlightenment.

In 1902 a great flood swept through Kanman Gorge, washing away the Jiunji Temple and severely damaging most of the statues. Ever since that time, visitors have noticed that their number seems to change when they try to count them. For this reason, they are sometimes called bakejizo, or phantom Jizos.

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.