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| Crow on Buddha |
No matter where I am in the world, I always love admiring cemeteries. They are so peaceful and beautiful and I'm always fascinated with the death rituals of other cultures. I recently went to a large one, high up on a hill by our house. They had so many magnificent statues. The large Buddha with the rays of light peaking from behind its head (that the crow is perched on), was built in 1983 and is 44ft tall. It sits upon a columbarium that is large enough to hold ceremonies in. The angry looking guard statues stand on either side of the columbarium entrance - they are called nio, and every temple has a couple guarding the entrance. Although there isn't a temple at this cemetery, their presence informs us that it's primarily used by Buddhists. Nio means "Kind Kings," and they are meant to look ferocious and powerful in order to scare off negative energy and bad spirits.
The pagoda pictured used to be 7 levels. Many years ago, high winds blew the top levels off, so they left it with 5 when they repaired it.
The rows of small statues that are pictured wearing the knitted clothing and adorned with mementos are for children that have passed. These are called jizo, and actually represent and protect many different things throughout Asia, but in modern Japan they are most often used to protect children and babies that have passed. There was a very long path along this wall, and the whole thing was lined with jizo from end to end.
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| 5 level pagoda |
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| Daruma statue |
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| Nio guard |
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| Nio guard |
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| Jizo |
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