About 70 Jizō along the river: they are called ‘bake-jizō’ because everyone counts a different number.
The path runs along a gorge cut by the Daiya River into the lava of Mount Nantai, past a row of small stone statues dedicated to Jizō, the bodhisattva who protects children and travellers. About 70 are counted today: there were perhaps a hundred, reduced by a flood in the Meiji era, and the fact that nobody manages to count them the same way twice has earned them the nickname ‘ghost Jizō’ (化け地蔵).
The statues are attributed to the disciples of the monk Tenkai, who re-founded the Nikkō religious complex in the seventeenth century, and were carved for the salvation of the souls of the dead. The place, less crowded than the main shrines a few minutes away, is considered one of the most cited ‘穴場’ (off the beaten track) spots in Nikkō precisely because of this contrast.
ℹ️ Free entry, path always open. In summer mountain leeches have been reported along the woodland path.
🚉 Yasukawacho · 13 min walk
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