Zojoji - Buddhist Devotion and Unborn Children

Zojoji Temple

Not too far from the foot of the Tokyo Tower is Zojoji, a sizable Buddhist temple with strong ties to the once powerful Tokugawa Shogunate. These temple grounds are actually known for quite a number of things, despite me and my entourage never having heard of this place for the longest amount of time. Drawn here by an event Aala made (but later on cancelled due to lack of attendance and an otherwise busy schedule) I got to get a good look at the temple.

The event in question was Gyoki, the Buddhist Devotion ceremony, where, in early April for the duration of a week, every day at 12:30pm, monks gather in ceremonial garb and perform an ancient dance accompanied by equally ancient music. The ceremony lasts a half-hour, after which the monks silently march in line and disappear into a tent. The ceremony commemorates the death of Honen, the founder of the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism.

With the accompanying backdrop of the now-waning cherry blossoms, the ceremony's quite a sight.

That aside, Zojoji is actually known for one more thing, however grim. The grounds house a garden dedicated to the souls of unborn children, including the aborted and the miscarried and the stillborn. Parents of such children can dress a statue and often leave a gift to Jizo, the guardian of the unborn, to assure that they are brought safely into the afterlife. Each stone piled next to such a statue is intended to shorten the suffering of the child during said passage.

For those interested in seeing it, here's a video of the Gyoki ceremony I managed to take.