Akatsuka Suwa Shrine, which is not so large, has a magnificent Zuishinmon gate

Zuishinmon Gate of Akatsuka Suwa Shrine — Zuishimon Gate of Akatsuka Suwa Shrine

When you visit a Buddhist temple, you will often find Dharmapalas waiting for you at the gate. This was the case at Joren-ji Temple near the Akatsuka Suwa Shrine. Vajrapani, one of the Dharmapalas, was waiting for me at the gate of the temple, which stood at the top of the stairs. He stands at the entrance to protect the temple from enemies of Buddhism.

In the case of Shinto shrines, what protects the precincts from enemies are usually the guardian dogs. In most cases, they are rarely large ones. They are a bit unreliable compared to Vajrapani, who is holding a weapon called Vajra and has an angry expression on his face.

It seems that many people thought so, and although small shrines often have only gardian fogs, larger shrines have Zuishinmon gate, which enshrine the gods that protect the shrine grounds. It is likely that they thought that the guardian dogs alone were not powerful enough.

It seems that the people who built Akatsuka Suwa Shrine thought the same way, and even though the shrine was not so large, a magnificent Zuishinmon gate was built in the middle of the approach to the shrine, and a god with a bow and arrow was sitting inside.

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