Mr. Jizo Comicbook
Well kids, because you were soooo good this week, you get to hear a story from your favorite comic: “Mr. Jizo Comicbook”!
I picked this “O-Jizo-sama” manga up for 500 yen at Mibudera on Wednesday (see below for the description of the temple), just couldn’t resist. Since I was sick and didn’t get to blog as much this week, here’s a second post on the same day just for you. OK kids, sit down and be still so we can all listen. And remember, in Japan we read our comicbooks from right to left.
Once upon a time some children were playing near a temple. A kindly old monk came along and told them the famous story of “Sai-no-Kawara”: the bank of the river Sai.
When children die, they go to the riverbank of Sai. There they wait forlornly, unable to pass on to the next world. They gather stones and erect stupas (Buddhist memorial monuments) to worship the Buddhas and dedicate merit to their families.
But on the riverbank, there is a demon! He smashes their “sand-castles” and terrifies them! Oh no, what a terrible story. . .
But then. . . Jizo appears! He is the special guardian of children and people in the afterlife. So he comes quickly to save the children trapped in the netherworld. Yay!
The children run to him and he gathers them up, offering them shelter.
The demon is angry! He confronts Jizo! But Jizo is too good and powerful, he protects the children and they are saved! The end.
Since you sat through that scary traditional story, children, you can have a peek at one more. This is a happy story! Some monkeys were frolicking in the woods. They saw some children worshipping Jizo and offering flowers. The monkeys decided to do so too. Then the other animals saw them, and copied them as well. Everyone is happy!
Best panel: the happy rabbits and squirrels worship Jizo, who says “Thank you!” And yes, it is required by strict Japanese law that all squirrels in the country be blue with bright yellow racing stripes.
Next week in “Mr. Jizo Comicbook”: Lois Lane discovers Jizo’s secret identity as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. Will she tell the world?
I picked this “O-Jizo-sama” manga up for 500 yen at Mibudera on Wednesday (see below for the description of the temple), just couldn’t resist. Since I was sick and didn’t get to blog as much this week, here’s a second post on the same day just for you. OK kids, sit down and be still so we can all listen. And remember, in Japan we read our comicbooks from right to left.
Once upon a time some children were playing near a temple. A kindly old monk came along and told them the famous story of “Sai-no-Kawara”: the bank of the river Sai.
When children die, they go to the riverbank of Sai. There they wait forlornly, unable to pass on to the next world. They gather stones and erect stupas (Buddhist memorial monuments) to worship the Buddhas and dedicate merit to their families.
But on the riverbank, there is a demon! He smashes their “sand-castles” and terrifies them! Oh no, what a terrible story. . .
But then. . . Jizo appears! He is the special guardian of children and people in the afterlife. So he comes quickly to save the children trapped in the netherworld. Yay!
The children run to him and he gathers them up, offering them shelter.
The demon is angry! He confronts Jizo! But Jizo is too good and powerful, he protects the children and they are saved! The end.
Since you sat through that scary traditional story, children, you can have a peek at one more. This is a happy story! Some monkeys were frolicking in the woods. They saw some children worshipping Jizo and offering flowers. The monkeys decided to do so too. Then the other animals saw them, and copied them as well. Everyone is happy!
Best panel: the happy rabbits and squirrels worship Jizo, who says “Thank you!” And yes, it is required by strict Japanese law that all squirrels in the country be blue with bright yellow racing stripes.
Next week in “Mr. Jizo Comicbook”: Lois Lane discovers Jizo’s secret identity as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. Will she tell the world?
posted by anakashiko | 10:06 PM
2 Comments:
The pictures of the children in limbo (to misapply a term) remind me of the paintings of the naive artist Henry Darger, which featured naked children - mostly girls - running around in odd, sometimes apocalyptic settings.
I don't know Darger, though maybe I'd recognize his work if I saw it. The children in the Jizo manga are asexual but their hairstyle is basically traditional for a boy.
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