You can’t hide anything from Enma-daio (Photo: Tomoko Kamishima)

En-no-ji Temple in Kita-Kamakura

The Ten Kings of Hades

Tomoko Kamishima   - 1 min read

En-no-ji Temple enshrines the ten Kings of Hades—whom we meet when we die. Buddhism teaches that we will cross a river, San-zu-no-kawa River (‘The Border’), after we die. There, the ten Kings judge us one by one. At first, each King investigates the newcomer seven times every seven days, then 100 days later, one year later, and three years later. The greatest king of those ten Kings is En-ma-daio who sits in the middle of the hall. Buddhism teaches us to live well and honestly by showing us one of the worlds of the afterlife.

Tomoko Kamishima

Tomoko Kamishima @tomoko.kamishima

Japan is a small island nation, but we have a huge number of surprising things to discover here. Many of these delights can be found when you step off the main street onto small side paths. I really enjoy studying about and researching various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, and then sha...