Whirlwind Sunday Temple Tour
On Sunday I went to more temples than I thought possible in a day. The day started at 10am, when my mentor in Japan, Dr. Tatsuguchi Myosei (hereafter Tatsuguchi Sensei), met me at the Hongwanji International Center. We biked first to the family temple of a student of his, name Soutokuji (I’m not sure of the translation). This is a temple in Jodo Shu lineage of Pure Land Buddhism, related to but not identical to the Jodo Shinshu one that I’m involved with. Soutokuji is close to Kyoto Station and is interesting because it practice ningyo kuyo: doll memorials. When your child outgrows their dolls or action figures, you take them to the temple to be respectfully disposed of. They are stored for a time in ornate cases, then cremated in a memorial service.
Many people buy a flat wooden plaque called an ema. On one side is an image of a Buddha or other holy figure. On the back is a space to write one’s prayers or wishes. So at Soutokuji you would buy a ningyo ema and on the back express your appreciation to the dolls for taking care of your children. These are hung in public places.
We went to this temple, however, because they also perform mizuko kuyo. Mizuko is the Japanese word for fetus; it literally means water-child. Mizuko kuyo are memorials performed for fetuses that never come to full term, such as miscarriages, abortions, or stillbirths. I am writing my dissertation on these rituals and this is why I have come to Kyoto for three months. There is no equivalent religious recognition of pregnancy losses in America, and therefore some people have begun to import mizuko kuyo and perform them there, even Christians. This is an interesting phenomenon and allows me to touch on a wide variety of subjects both Asian and American, so I choose it for my dissertation topic. Mizuko kuyo at Soutokuji cost 10,000 yen. The ritual is not performed by Jodo Shinshu because they view it as superstitious and exploitative.
After Soutokuji, Tatsuguchi Sensei and I met his wife at the Righa Royal Hotel, right around the corner from the temple. We ate lunch at the buffet and had a nice conversation. They lived in Chapel Hill in 2001 for nine months, and visited again last year for a shorter period. So we had lots to talk about.
After lunch, the three of us biked over to Enmusubi, which is also right near Kyoto Station. Enmusubi is more of a large road-side shrine than an actual temple, and combines both Shinto and Buddhist elements heavily. On the Shinto side was a stone with the Dousoujin, two old kami (deities) who guard travelers and are also prayed to for success in marriage.
On the Buddhist side were several statues of Jizo, the bodhisattva (future Buddha) of travelers, women, children, firefighters, and the afterlife. He is the main figure in mizuko kuyo: he ferries the spirits of lost fetuses to a better rebirth, perhaps in one of the paradise realms. Because of his patronage of travelers he is often associated with the Dousojin, although they are unusual here in the Kansai region, being most often found in the Kanto region north of Tokyo. The Jizos in the shrine were specifically mizuko Jizo, the Jizo who saved mizuko.
Mrs. Tatsuguchi left us, and we biked over the river to a district full of temples. As we were passing through, we stopped at looked at the Mimitou: the ear stupa. Stupas are Buddhist memorial monuments. This one was built for the ears of Korean soldiers that the invading Japanese army cut off, pickled, and brought back during a medieval campaign. Tatsuguchi Sensei took a picture of me standing in front of it, thankfully with my ears intact.
Across the street was Karasu Temple, the Crow Temple. The temple was founded when someone overheard two crows talking about how the disciple of a major Pure Land priest would die soon. Sure enough, he did.
Our next stop was an important one. We went to Rokuharamitsuji, the Temple of the Six Perfections Needed to Become a Buddha. It is a tantric temple that is said to be located over the mouth of the underworld. They have a collection of life-size wood statues that are considered national treasures, including one I have always wanted to see of Kuya, an early Pure Land saint. But the real reason we came here was because the temple performs lots of mizuko kuyo. In the back were two statues of mizuko Jizo.
When someone has a mizuko kuyo performed, they often buy a little mizuko Jizo statue. They will dress the statue like a baby with a bib or hat and leave it in the shrine. At Rokuharamitsuji they cost 50,000 yen each. The larger mizuko Jizo was standing in a basin of water. People buy slivers of wood shaped like stupas called mizutou (water-stupa), write the name of a deceased loved one on them, and cast them into the water. I bought two for my research collection, they cost 300 yen together.
After Rokuharamitsuji, we biked to Saifukuji. This is a Pure Land temple that used to be a tantric temple. We looked around, and sure enough I found a bunch of mizuko jizo in the shadows.
As we climbed further up the mountain, we approached Hokanji. This temple is famous for the Yasakatou, the Yasaka Stupa, which rises above the winding street.
On our way by, we passed a small temple whose name I missed (though it was the word “monkey” in the title). Inside was a shrine for the three monkeys of Nikko, known as saru, zara, waru: speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil. You can see them seated at the bottom of the picture. The brightly-colored objects on strings are lover’s knots, left by people seeking success in romance or marriage.
We arrived at Rokudo-chinnoji, a Zen temple in the Rinzai tradition. I saw a statue of Emma-o, the scary judge of the dead who reads off your list of misbehaviors and determines your punishment.
This temple is really heavily involved in mizuko kuyo. Next to a bunch of old, worn-out regular Jizo statue is a brand-new mizuko jizo area. I thought the crawling baby statues were particularly striking.
This temple will perform perpetual mizuko kuyo for 38,000 yen. That means that they permanently enshrine one of the little mizuko jizos for you and periodically pray for it. They also sell mizuko ema, which I hadn’t seen before. I bought one for my collection for 300 en.
There were many hanging in the temple already. The messages on the back tended to say things like “I’m sorry,” “I regret what I did,” “Please have a better life,” etc. One that I thought was interesting said “Please watch over me.” Here we can see how the mizuko, the spirit of one’s own never-born child, has become assimilated to the rest of the ancestors, so that it becomes the source of protection rather than the other way around.
Our last stop was at Ryozen Kannon, an independent temple established for the dead of WWII. It is famous for its huge statue of Kannon, the female bodhisattva of compassion.
If I thought the other temples were heavily involved in mizuko kuyo, this one blew them away. Ryozan Kannon has a whole section of the grounds devoted to mizuko jizos. There were at least 10-15 thousand mizuko jizos here, maybe more, in orderly cases. You could buy lots of mizuko kuyo paraphernalia here, such as mizuko candles for 300 yen, mizuko pinwheels for 300 yen, and todarikake (baby bibs: literally, drool-clothes) for 200 yen.
We biked home exhausted by the long day. It was incredibly fruitful, though, and I know I’ll be able to return to these temples to do more research. I started to celebrate by watching King King vs. Godzilla, but I fell asleep. Just too tired.
Apparently I can only upload 13 pictures per post, so there are lots more I didn't include. And speaking of whirlwinds, it turns out that Typhoon Maria is due to hit Kyoto later today. I noticed it was getting really windy, but without a television I haven't caught a weather forecast in a week.
Many people buy a flat wooden plaque called an ema. On one side is an image of a Buddha or other holy figure. On the back is a space to write one’s prayers or wishes. So at Soutokuji you would buy a ningyo ema and on the back express your appreciation to the dolls for taking care of your children. These are hung in public places.
We went to this temple, however, because they also perform mizuko kuyo. Mizuko is the Japanese word for fetus; it literally means water-child. Mizuko kuyo are memorials performed for fetuses that never come to full term, such as miscarriages, abortions, or stillbirths. I am writing my dissertation on these rituals and this is why I have come to Kyoto for three months. There is no equivalent religious recognition of pregnancy losses in America, and therefore some people have begun to import mizuko kuyo and perform them there, even Christians. This is an interesting phenomenon and allows me to touch on a wide variety of subjects both Asian and American, so I choose it for my dissertation topic. Mizuko kuyo at Soutokuji cost 10,000 yen. The ritual is not performed by Jodo Shinshu because they view it as superstitious and exploitative.
After Soutokuji, Tatsuguchi Sensei and I met his wife at the Righa Royal Hotel, right around the corner from the temple. We ate lunch at the buffet and had a nice conversation. They lived in Chapel Hill in 2001 for nine months, and visited again last year for a shorter period. So we had lots to talk about.
After lunch, the three of us biked over to Enmusubi, which is also right near Kyoto Station. Enmusubi is more of a large road-side shrine than an actual temple, and combines both Shinto and Buddhist elements heavily. On the Shinto side was a stone with the Dousoujin, two old kami (deities) who guard travelers and are also prayed to for success in marriage.
On the Buddhist side were several statues of Jizo, the bodhisattva (future Buddha) of travelers, women, children, firefighters, and the afterlife. He is the main figure in mizuko kuyo: he ferries the spirits of lost fetuses to a better rebirth, perhaps in one of the paradise realms. Because of his patronage of travelers he is often associated with the Dousojin, although they are unusual here in the Kansai region, being most often found in the Kanto region north of Tokyo. The Jizos in the shrine were specifically mizuko Jizo, the Jizo who saved mizuko.
Mrs. Tatsuguchi left us, and we biked over the river to a district full of temples. As we were passing through, we stopped at looked at the Mimitou: the ear stupa. Stupas are Buddhist memorial monuments. This one was built for the ears of Korean soldiers that the invading Japanese army cut off, pickled, and brought back during a medieval campaign. Tatsuguchi Sensei took a picture of me standing in front of it, thankfully with my ears intact.
Across the street was Karasu Temple, the Crow Temple. The temple was founded when someone overheard two crows talking about how the disciple of a major Pure Land priest would die soon. Sure enough, he did.
Our next stop was an important one. We went to Rokuharamitsuji, the Temple of the Six Perfections Needed to Become a Buddha. It is a tantric temple that is said to be located over the mouth of the underworld. They have a collection of life-size wood statues that are considered national treasures, including one I have always wanted to see of Kuya, an early Pure Land saint. But the real reason we came here was because the temple performs lots of mizuko kuyo. In the back were two statues of mizuko Jizo.
When someone has a mizuko kuyo performed, they often buy a little mizuko Jizo statue. They will dress the statue like a baby with a bib or hat and leave it in the shrine. At Rokuharamitsuji they cost 50,000 yen each. The larger mizuko Jizo was standing in a basin of water. People buy slivers of wood shaped like stupas called mizutou (water-stupa), write the name of a deceased loved one on them, and cast them into the water. I bought two for my research collection, they cost 300 yen together.
After Rokuharamitsuji, we biked to Saifukuji. This is a Pure Land temple that used to be a tantric temple. We looked around, and sure enough I found a bunch of mizuko jizo in the shadows.
As we climbed further up the mountain, we approached Hokanji. This temple is famous for the Yasakatou, the Yasaka Stupa, which rises above the winding street.
On our way by, we passed a small temple whose name I missed (though it was the word “monkey” in the title). Inside was a shrine for the three monkeys of Nikko, known as saru, zara, waru: speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil. You can see them seated at the bottom of the picture. The brightly-colored objects on strings are lover’s knots, left by people seeking success in romance or marriage.
We arrived at Rokudo-chinnoji, a Zen temple in the Rinzai tradition. I saw a statue of Emma-o, the scary judge of the dead who reads off your list of misbehaviors and determines your punishment.
This temple is really heavily involved in mizuko kuyo. Next to a bunch of old, worn-out regular Jizo statue is a brand-new mizuko jizo area. I thought the crawling baby statues were particularly striking.
This temple will perform perpetual mizuko kuyo for 38,000 yen. That means that they permanently enshrine one of the little mizuko jizos for you and periodically pray for it. They also sell mizuko ema, which I hadn’t seen before. I bought one for my collection for 300 en.
There were many hanging in the temple already. The messages on the back tended to say things like “I’m sorry,” “I regret what I did,” “Please have a better life,” etc. One that I thought was interesting said “Please watch over me.” Here we can see how the mizuko, the spirit of one’s own never-born child, has become assimilated to the rest of the ancestors, so that it becomes the source of protection rather than the other way around.
Our last stop was at Ryozen Kannon, an independent temple established for the dead of WWII. It is famous for its huge statue of Kannon, the female bodhisattva of compassion.
If I thought the other temples were heavily involved in mizuko kuyo, this one blew them away. Ryozan Kannon has a whole section of the grounds devoted to mizuko jizos. There were at least 10-15 thousand mizuko jizos here, maybe more, in orderly cases. You could buy lots of mizuko kuyo paraphernalia here, such as mizuko candles for 300 yen, mizuko pinwheels for 300 yen, and todarikake (baby bibs: literally, drool-clothes) for 200 yen.
We biked home exhausted by the long day. It was incredibly fruitful, though, and I know I’ll be able to return to these temples to do more research. I started to celebrate by watching King King vs. Godzilla, but I fell asleep. Just too tired.
Apparently I can only upload 13 pictures per post, so there are lots more I didn't include. And speaking of whirlwinds, it turns out that Typhoon Maria is due to hit Kyoto later today. I noticed it was getting really windy, but without a television I haven't caught a weather forecast in a week.
posted by anakashiko | 10:10 PM
4 Comments:
The mizuko ema from Rokudo-chinnoji, with what looks like brightly colored leaves falling, is so pretty.
Drool-clothes! That's a great name.
Great blog Jeff! Love the photos!
Thanks, Bree. I thought of you the other day when I saw a Japanese cooking show. They were at a traditional but swanky restaurant here in Kyoto, melting wasabi into soy sauce with green onions and dipping bite-size morsels into it. You'd have a blast blogging the food of Kyoto, I bet.
HI, Just wanted to say that I found your blog extremely helpful. My fiance and I will be spending 2 days in Kyoto as part of our honeymoon in October and you have pointed out some wonderful places that are overlooked in the usual online guide books. Thank you!! :)
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