are Japanese stone statues; mostly of Ksitigarbha and other kinds of stone statues made by Buddhist monk Hōgyū (around 1672–1732) between 1722 and 1732 in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

, Japan. When Hōgyū was about 14, in 1686, his father was killed by a samurai. Later he made stone statues for the repose of the soul of his father.

Historical records

In January 1686, a blacksmith called Hichizaemon, a heavy drinker, threw a bamboo blower at his son. It accidentally hit the forehead of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

, Ohyano Genzaemon. Despite repeated apologies, Genzaemon immediately killed Hichizaemon with a sword, that being legal at the time by

kiri sute gomen ''Kiri-sute gomen'' ( or ) is an old Japanese expression dating back to the History of Japan#Feudal Japan (1185–1868), feudal era ''right to strike'' (right of samurai to kill commoners for perceived affronts). Samurai had the right to strike wit ...

. Genzaemon, the son and his sister all wrote witness statements, and the

Bugyō was a title assigned to '' samurai'' officials during the feudal period of Japan. ''Bugyō'' is often translated as commissioner, magistrate, or governor, and other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given offic ...

did not punish Genzaemon. Out of grief, the son entered the Buddhist priesthood for the repose of his father, and offered a prayer with a vow that he would make 100 stone statues. He made 107 stone statues between 1722 and 1732. He died in 1732. The 100th statue was in Ōjō-in Temple in Kumamoto, and it was the biggest statue ( high) among others standing on the big stone lotus.

Stone statues

Most common are standing or sitting statues of Ksitigarbha with a monk's staff in the right hand and Cintamani in the left hand. There are other types of statues, such as Amitabha,

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

, Avalokitesvara, Bhaisajyaguru and mixtures of these statues. The height differs from the size of a person to . Behind each statue is a boat-shaped

Aureola An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

on which is written "Tariki" ("Through the Buddha") and the sequence number of his statue such as the 100th, and the ''petitioner is Hōgyū''.

Another opinion

Hideo Nagata studied every statue of Hōgyū and stated that the Hōgyū was not the boy whose father was killed. The statues might be connected with the circumstances of the time such as famine.Nagata

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

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Table of Hōgyū Jizō

Poems

The following are douka, or didactic poems, of Hōgyū:

Notes

References

* * * *
Incident at Kajiyacho
confirmed on Mar. 14, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hogyu Jizo Japanese sculpture Stone Buddha statues Buddha statues in Japan