Category Archives: traditions

[:en]7_the Great Buddha of Akata[:ja]7_赤田の大仏[:]

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7. The Great Buddha of Akata (Chokoku-ji Temple)

location: Akata Yurihonjo – 30 minutes from Honjo railway station by car

Chokoku-ji Temple was founded by Zesantaigaku Bonze in 1775.
The 11 Faces Kannon, better known as the Great Buddha of Akata, was completed in 1786, and the outer building, known as the Hall of the Great Buddha, was completed in 1794.
The precincts of the original temple were completely destroyed in a fire in 1888.  The present-day Kannon was rebuilt in 1892 and the reconstruction of the Hall of the Great Buddha was completed in 1896.
The Kannon is 7.87m high and made from mosaic cedar.  It was painted in lacquer and finished with gold paper.
The Hall of the Great Buddha is 21.2 high with a dual-layer wall.  A window in the upper part of the front of the building shows the face of the Kannon.  There is also a large, round pillar which acts as a support for the whole structure.
On February 11th each year a ceremony called “Daihan Kitoe” takes place here.  Participants pray for wisdom, peace and prosperity.
On August 22nd the annual “Shinbutsu Konkoku” festival is held. This festival incorporates gods from both the shinto and buddhist religions, a characteristic which is rarely found in Japan nowadays.
Please enjoy your visit to this religious site.

keywords:  traditions, religious belief
features:  tranquility,  peace of mind 

written by K. Asada

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名称　長谷寺大仏殿　赤田の大仏

種別　信仰　風習

場所　由利本荘市赤田

羽後本荘駅から車で３０分

イメージ　平穏　安心

概要

市指定有形文化財「十一面観世音菩薩」（じゅいちめんかんぜおんぼさつ）昭和61年2月13日指定、国登録有形文化財「長谷寺大仏殿」（ちょうこくじだいぶつでん）平成25年12月24日指定。

長谷寺は是山泰覚和尚（ぜさんたいがくおしょう）により1775年に開山されました。赤田の大仏として親しまれている十一面観世音菩薩立像は、1786年に完成し、大仏殿は1794年の完成です。残念ながら1888年に火災により境内（けいだい）のすべての伽藍（がらん）が焼失、現在の観音像は1892年に大仏殿は1896年に再建されました。

観音像は身の丈は7.87メートルで杉寄せ木作り、漆を塗り金箔を貼ってあります。大仏殿は総丈21.2メートルの高さを持つ上下二層の建物で上層正面には観相窓（かんそうまど）があります。大仏殿内部でみられる大きな丸柱が一本通しで大仏殿全体を支えています。

毎年2月11日には、平和と繁栄を祈る大般若祈祷会（だいはんにゃきとうえ）、8月22日には現在では珍しい神仏混淆（しんぶつこんこく）の大仏祭典が執り行われます。どうぞごゆっくりお参りください。

K.ASADA

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[:en]8_Oriwatari Sentai Jizo Statues [:ja]8_折渡千体地蔵[:]

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8. Oriwatari Sentai Jizo Statues (Oriwatari one thousand Jizo Statues)

location: Yurihonjo – 10 minutes from Iwaya railway station by car

These Jizo statues were founded by Zesanzenshi Bonze (the same man who founded the 11 Faces Kannon) around 200 years ago.  Originally, worshippers came to pray before these statues in the hope of long life.
Nowadays visitors pray in front of them for safety to passers-by and young children.
The Jizo statues originate from Fujian Province in China, and in the years after 1989 thousands of them were gradually brought here by contributors from all over Japan.  The statues were set down in rows covering the whole mountain. It took a long time to complete and this place subsequently became the sacred mountain of Jizo.
These Jizo statues have also acquired another name, as “wart-removing Jizo”.
It is said that someone took one stone from here home and rubbed a wart with it as they prayed in the hope of curing it … and, sure enough, the wart actually dissapeared.
As a result, anyone who takes a stone away and cures their wart with it is supposed to replace it with 2 new stones from the sea.

keywords:  traditions, religious belief
features:  spiritual, silence, remove warts, bell

written by M Sato

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名称　折渡千体地蔵（おりわたりせんたいじぞう）

種別　風習　信仰

場所　由利本荘市

岩谷駅から車で10分

イメージ　心霊、静寂、イボトリ　鐘

概要

今から約200年前是山禅師（赤田大佛開祖）により延命地蔵尊として建立されたものです。現在は、通行人の安全と子守地蔵として知られ、別名イボトリ地蔵としても有名である。

中国福健省で作られた千体地蔵が、全国の寄進者によって平成元年から年月をかけ全山に据えられ、地蔵霊山となりました。

ここに置いてある石を家に持ち帰り、それでイボがある部分を治るように祈りながらこすること、本当にイボが消えたとの言い伝えが有名です。イボが消えたら、新しい石を海から拾ってきて２倍にして返すことになっています。

M.SATO

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