[Oga City, Akita Prefecture] "All Buddhas of Mayama" covering the walls of over 10,000 Jizo Bodhisattvas

Namahage is a visitor god passed down around the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture .

The Namahage Purple Festival is held once a year at Shinzan Shrine the center of this legend However, it may not be well known that along the way there are strange halls that are rare even when viewed nationwide.

As the name suggests, "All Buddhas of Mayama" is enshrined with over 10,000 Buddha statues

The Shinzan no Mantaibutsu (Mayama) follows the main road known as the "Namahage Line," which connects National Route 101 to Oga Onsenkyo, and then the "Namahage Tower " in the Kitaura Mayama district, a landmark to Mayama Shrine, and then you will see it on the left side after a while.

In terms of appearance, it is a hall that is often seen in many areas, so it is not particularly eye-catching.

This day the Namahage Purple Festival , so many cars were passing this road to head to Mayama Shrine, but none of them stopped here except for me. It looks so "normal."

Even when I approach it, there is nothing ordinary about it. And even during the day, I can't see anything inside the hall, which is pitch black even during the day.

Although I occasionally visit the shrine, I have not had much experience of "entering" this kind of hall, so I get closer with a little nervousness. And as you gradually start to see what's inside, the first impression I felt was probably "scary."

As I clasped my hands and entered timidly, I saw small wooden Buddha statues filled with carved wooden statues, from all sides of the hall to the ceiling.

It is also listed on Oga City's tourist website, and although it is not a place where you should never get close to it or a place where strange things occur, the unusual sight combined with the fact that I was alone made me feel "terrifying" first.

According to the legend of the signboard at the entrance

In 1714, during the mid-Edo period, a monk Fumyo mourned his disciple who had died unfortunately, and built a hall to commemorate many children who died at an early age, and carved a statue of Jizo Bodhisattva, a Buddha who saved the spirits of children. It is said that in this area, he is still worshiped deeply in hoping for good health, great fishing, and safe births.

This is also written in Oga Spring Break by Sugae Masumi, , as "a wooden edge Buddha carved by Fume at Kouninji Temple in Mayama (now the Shinzan Shrine)."

Tohoku Rokken trivia media: NEFT

[Oga City, Akita Prefecture] “Spring Breeze of Oga” “Suzukaze of Oga” “Shimafu of Oga” Part 2 of tracing the Oga Peninsula where Masumi Sugae walked. Interested in the strangely shaped rocks along the coast.

Masumi Sugae in the Edo period (1754-1829) introduces the Edo period and modern times based on [Oga Gofu], which wrote the Oga Peninsula. <Masumi Sugae. Following the Oga Peninsula where you walked, the second is the "Spring Wind of Oga", which resumed your trip to the Oga Peninsula and traveled on the north coast, and "Oga no Suzukaze" and "Oga no Island style" around the west coast. This article is written while referring to the Akita Prefectural Museum of Museum, the Kokugan Bunkan, the book, the National Diet Library, and the contemporary translation book published in 2000. The date of the Edo period is the date and time (the lunar calendar) written by Masumi unless there is a paradise. See Akita Prefectural Museum Kan ...

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After that, Kongo Dojido moved to its current location under the Order of Separation of Shinto and Buddhas in the Meiji period, and became known as the "Many Buddhas of Mayama."

In a small hall about 5.4m square, approximately 12,000 to 3,000 statues of Jizo Bodhisattva, about 20cm tall, can be stored in a small hall. It seems that a hall with so many Buddha statues is rare even in the country.

As it is a land of Namahage, there is also a statue of Jizo Bodhisattva covered in straw that appears to have fallen from the Namahage Kede (a haori made from straw worn by Namahage), which is said to be a good health amulet.

It is not a rare sight, so if you are visiting Namahage for sightseeing, it's a good idea to take a little detour. In this case, be sure to put your hands firmly and don't forget to pray!

All Buddhas of Mayama <Information>

• Name: All Buddhas of Mayama
• Address: 121 Shiranesakadai, Kitaura Mayama, Oga City, Akita Prefecture, 010-0685
• Phone number: -
• Official URL: Oga Navi – Mayama's All Buddhas

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