With the meaning of protection for children and pregnant women, the Jizo stone statue in Tochigi, Japan is one of the interesting places that visitors should not miss. In the wild mountain scenery, making the statues even more bizarre and scary.

Although Jizo statues appear in many places in the land of the rising sun, the most are probably on the barren slopes of the Chausudake volcanic region, Tochigi prefecture with hundreds of paintings. And only in Chausudake, these Jizo statues are carved from black volcanic rocks. Combined with the wild mountainside and murky scenery, the statues become mysterious.

However, this is what makes the Chausudake volcanic region famous, making it an interesting destination for both Japanese and foreign tourists.

The Japanese consider Jizo to be the savior to ease the sufferings that people have to endure when they go to hell and answer prayers for health and success for those who are living.

Therefore, Jizo is one of the most loved and revered deities in Japan, in Japanese, Jizo Bosatsu. He is also known as O-Jizo-Sama or Jizo-san and is considered the patron saint of children, pregnant women, firefighters, travelers, pilgrims and aborted fetuses. or break.

The blessing of the god Jizo is especially important to children and pregnant women, so these statues are mostly decorated with children’s clothes or bibs. Families with children who have died often put the child’s toys and clothes next to these statues to pray to the god Jizo to protect their souls.

According to the concept of Buddhism, after death, the soul will move into one of the six realms depending on the karma created during life. All beings must die and must be reborn in such a cycle again and again unless they are freed from desires and become enlightened.

When visiting Jizo stone statues, visitors will be quite surprised because these stone statues are decorated by wearing children’s hats or bibs. As mentioned above, Jizo is the guardian deity for children and pregnant women, so families when their children have died will often bring their toys and clothes and place them next to Jizo stone statues to pray. guardian of their souls.

The large and small stone statues of different sizes gather in one place, some of them are wearing woolen hats and children’s scarves, combined with the wild hills and mountains. making the Chausudake volcanic region scary, bringing a bit of evil. Many tourists say that they do not dare to come here alone, people often organize tours or groups to explore the mountains.

According to legend, once upon a time, in a certain village, there lived an old couple. Although Tet is coming, they are so poor that they do not have a single grain of rice to eat. The old man had to sell braided hats to have food for the new year.

Unfortunately, the old man did not sell any hats. On the way home, when he discovered 6 Jizo statues covered with snow, the old man brushed off all the snow and put on his hats for the Jizos. But there were only 5 hats for sale, so the old man finally gave the 6th Jizo his hat.

When he got home, he told his wife that he couldn’t sell any hats and gave the statues to Jizo to stay warm in the snow. The old man’s wife was very happy because they did a good job.

At night, when they were sleeping, they heard very loud sounds outside the house. The grandparents came out and saw 6 Jizo wearing braided hats leaving a lot of rice and food at the front door so they had a happy new year.

Anecdotes are many, but if you want to come to Japan and understand more about the history of Jizo stone statues as well as listen to anecdotes related to them, please proceed with the visa application process according to the article Tourist visa service. Chudutravel’s Japan tour and hire a Japanese guide, they will make your visit more complete and meaningful.

Hopefully the information we provide above will help your upcoming trip to Japan. Please add the above attractions to your itinerary to explore the land of cherry blossoms!