Ehime

Living Wooden Jizo Statue

Unusual statue carved by a sculptor of living trees

Takako Sakamoto Dec 14, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Usually, Buddhist statues are carved on dry wood, but this statue is carved into a living tree</p>

<p>Deep in the woods in Ehime Prefecture, there is an area called Kiriyama, which is famous for the Heike (Taira Clan) Legend</p>

<p>The 'Living Jizo' is 60 cm high and 20cm wide</p>

<p>As you can see, this tree with a Living Jizo in its trunk is still growing! How extraordinary!</p>

<p>The Manabe House with thatched roof in Kiriyama Area, which is famous for the Heike Legend</p>

<p>This area is known as a place where Emperor Antoku and his five subjects hid away, and many sites related to this historical episode remain here.</p>

<p>The stone monument made of Sazareishi Stone displayed between a Living Jizo and Manabe House</p>

<p>It is said that fleeing Heike warriors and people related to Heike Clan hid themselves here in Kiriyama Area, a hidden village well off the beaten track</p>

I heard a rumor that there is a 'Living Jizo' carved into a tree somewhere in the Kiriyama Area of Ehime Prefecture, an area famous in connection to the Heike Legend. Intrigued, I visited the place on November 1st this year, and found that it indeed exists.

The wonderful thing about this jizo statue is the fact that it's carved into a living tree. There was another living jizo here about 300 years ago, but it decayed over time, so a sculptor from Kagawa Prefecture remade it in 1979, in a different living tree. Later, the same sculptor was invited to Spain to carve a jizo statue in a walnut tree on the Way of St. James (The Camino de Santiago).

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...