Jizo For Tsunami Survivors
A news report about beautiful cloth Jizo figures that have been put on display at a Buddhist temple in Kesennuma:
They are on display at Jifuku-Ji, a temple that stands amid the rubble of a city that was devastated by the March 11th tsunami. A mark on one of the wooden beams of the building shows that it was almost entirely submerged when the tsunami hit. Most of the statues and graves that had been outside the temple building were washed away or destroyed.
There are over 120 handmade figures. The Jizo figures were made from fine cloth and kimonos donated by tsunami survivors. Some of the materials belonged to people who died in the tsunami.
The first of these Jizo figures was created by a woman who lost her brother-in-law in the tsunami. Like many of the people lost that day, his remains have not been found. There was no grave site at which his family could offer prayers. The woman created the figure as something to which prayers could be offered.
After she completed the first figure, she began to receive requests for others. It eventually became a neighborhood project. The figures now on display at the temple will eventually be placed in the homes of people who lost loved ones.
Here’s some background information on Jizou statues (from Wikipedia):
In Japan, Ksitigarbha, known as Jizō, or Ojizō-sama as he is respectfully known, is one of the most loved of all Japanese divinities. His statues are a common sight, especially by roadsides and in graveyards. Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, particularly children who died before their parents. Since the 1980s, he has been worshiped as the guardian of the souls of mizuko, the souls of stillborn, miscarried or aborted fetuses, in the ritual of mizuko kuyō (水子供養, lit. offering to water children). In Japanese mythology, it is said that the souls of children who die before their parents are unable to cross the mythical Sanzu River on their way to the afterlife because they have not had the chance to accumulate enough good deeds and because they have made the parents suffer. It is believed that Jizō saves these souls from having to pile stones eternally on the bank of the river as penance, by hiding them from demons in his robe, and letting them hear mantras.
Jizō statues are sometimes accompanied by a little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworld. (The act is derived from the tradition of building stupas as an act of merit-making.) The statues can sometimes be seen wearing tiny children’s clothing or bibs, or with toys, put there by grieving parents to help their lost ones and hoping that Jizō would specially protect them. Sometimes the offerings are put there by parents to thank Jizō for saving their children from a serious illness. Jizō’s features are commonly made more babylike to resemble the children he protects.
As he is seen as the saviour of souls who have to suffer in the underworld, his statues are common in cemeteries. He is also believed to be one of the protective deities of travelers, the dōsojin, and roadside statues of Jizō are a common sight in Japan. Firefighters are also believed to be under the protection of Jizō.
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