Zojoji Temple, located in the bustling city of Tokyo, is a magnificent Buddhist temple with a rich history and cultural significance. Among its many treasures are the Jizo statues, which hold a special place in Japanese religious beliefs and practices. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what makes these Jizo statues so special, and why they continue to attract visitors and believers from all over Japan and beyond.
Who is Jizo?
Jizo is a bodhisattva, a compassionate being who has chosen to delay his own enlightenment in order to help others. He is particularly revered in Japan, where he is seen as a protector of children and travelers, as well as a guide for those who have died before their time.
In statue form, Jizo takes on many appearances in Japan. Rokujizo, or the six Jizo statues, can often be found on roadsides and hiking trails such as this one as if to guide weary travelers to safety. There’s a big statue on the rooftop of a department store in Ginza, believed to grant success to those who pay it respects. There’s also a Jizo statue that people tie with ropes, believing that doing so will help their wishes to come true.
The Jizo statues at Zojoji, however, look nothing like these. Instead, they are small and look childlike in appearance. This is because these statues are placed there to pray for the health and safety of young children, as well as pray for the souls of mizuko, literally “water children.”
What are mizuko?
Mizuko is the term used in Japan to refer to the souls of children who died before birth or shortly after. In Japanese Buddhism, children who suffer an untimely death are believed to have not yet fully entered the cycle of rebirth and are therefore unable to attain enlightenment or reach the other side. This is because they have not collected enough good deeds to help them cross the river to the afterlife. In dying before their parents, they also carry the sin of causing them grief. As such, mizuko are considered to be in a state of limbo and require assistance to move on to the next stage of their journey.
This is where Jizo as a benevolent spirit comes in to help. In order to make their way to the afterlife, mizuko must stack stones that will take them to the afterlife, but each night a demon comes to knock over what they’ve built. Jizo acts as the protector of these children, hiding them under his sleeves until the demon goes away.
This is why you often see stacks of stones next to Jizo statues, presumably left by people who know the story. It’s a symbolic offering, an act of kindness to pay respects to deceased children.
At Zojoji, people offer pinwheels instead of stacking stones. People offer pinwheels to Jizo statues as a symbol of the playful and carefree nature of childhood, which Jizo is believed to protect. It is believed that the spinning motion of the pinwheels represents the constant cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and that Jizo helps guide the souls of deceased children through this cycle.
Jizo Statues at Zojoji
There are around 1,300 Jizo statues at Zojoji, concentrated in rows in a single area, eye-catching in their red hats and bibs. Beside each, colorful pinwheels that spin with the wind. These Jizo statues were placed here to pray for the health and safety of living children, as well as pray for the deceased. The temple also performs an annual memorial service, which features the carrying of mikoshi.
Atlas Obscura calls the Jizo statues of Zojoji the “Garden of the Unborn Children,” and while catchy, it does take a bit of a sensationalist approach considering that these statues were also made to pray for the living and children who were born, but died young. It’s important to note that Zojoji does not have a specific name for this part of the temple and simply refers to it as “the Jizo statues.”
Video
The Jizo statues of Zojoji Temple are part of the Unusual Things to Do in Tokyo video, shown around 1:20.
How to Get to Zojoji
Zojoji (増上寺、ぞうじょうじ)
09:00 tp 17:00
Official Website
3-minute walk from Onarimon Station or Shiba-koen Station, Toei Mitai Line
5-minute walk from Daimon Station, Toei Asakusa Line, Toei Oedo Line
7-minute walk from Akabanebashi Station, Toei Oedo Line
10-minute walk from Hamamatsu Station, JR, Tokyo Monorail
10-minute walk from Kamiyacho Station, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
