At Daien-ji Temple, Jizo statues were squinting happily

Jizo statue smiling — Shot at Daien-ji, a Buddhist temple in Meguro, Tokyo

The Daien-ji Temple is located on a very steep slope called Gyoninzaka near Meguro Station. A gyojin is a kind of Buddhist monk. Of course, you won't see any monks on this slope nowadays, nor can you see Mt. Gonnosuke-zaka has given up its position as a major road and is now flanked on both sides by buildings, leaving Gyoninzaka as a nondescript, steep slope.

As I passed through the gate facing the steep slope, I found myself in the precincts of Daien-ji. In the precincts of the temple, which are not that large, there are Jizo statues built to memorialize the victims of the Great Fire of Meiwa with painful-looking faces, but there are also Jizo statues with softened faces.

All of the Jizo with soft faces in a row are smiling a little upward. If you look closely, you can see that they all have different facial features, but they all have blessed ears. These smiles may be the smiles of those who have been freed from the worries of money. Incidentally, it is said that blessed ears are considered to be a sign of money luck because of the influence of Buddhism. It is interesting to note that such a concept does not exist in the West.

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