Beside the gentle-faced Jizo statues, windmills were turning

Jizo and wheeling windmills — Jizo statues at Zojoji

Walking through a quiet corner of Zojoji Temple in Shiba, I came upon a place where rows of Jizo statues stood shoulder to shoulder. In a temple with such a long history, this kind of scene should not be unusual, and yet my feet stopped of their own accord. I used to assume that statues like these were all mizuko Jizo, memorials for unborn children. Only later did I learn that the story here is slightly different. These Jizo have been dedicated with prayers for safe childbirth and the healthy growth of children. Assumptions, it seems, are usually completed well before we bother to read the explanatory plaque.

Seen in that light, the faces of the statues take on a different expression. Each one still carries a trace of childishness, less like an ascetic monk striving for enlightenment than a child woken halfway through a nap. There is no urgency about becoming a Buddha anytime soon. Perhaps there is no need. Jizo’s role is to look after ordinary people, after all, and such work hardly requires a severe or enlightened expression.

Beside the statues, colorful pinwheels have been placed as offerings. This custom dates back to the Edo period, when toys were dedicated as symbols of hope for a child’s growth. When a breeze drifts in from the open sky above Shiba and passes through the temple grounds, the pinwheels suddenly spring to life, spinning energetically as if they had been waiting for their cue. Next to them, a Jizo remains still, eyes gently closed. Whether it is feeling the wind or simply dozing is impossible to tell. What is clear is that it makes no effort to demand emotion or reverence. It simply stays there, quietly doing its job.

Zojoji on Google Map

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