Kurume History Walks
No.9

Stone Artifacts in Daizenji 2 大善寺の石造美術を訪ねて２

Continuing from the previous issue, we introduce the stone artifacts of the Daizenji Tamatare-gu Shrine andits surrounding areas.

Basho’s Haiku monument
In the east of the worship hall, there is a rectangular stonepillar of 1.7 meters high, inscribed with Basho’s haiku, theconstruction year (1814), and two petitioner’s names－ Haru mo yaya keshiki totonou tsuki to ume
Spring haze, the atmosphere just so, with moon and plumblossom.
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is one of the greatest masters ofhaiku of the Edo period. There are almost a thousand haiku
monuments of Basho across the country, almost 70 in
Fukuoka Prefecture, and 8 in Kurume.

Sai no Kami san (tutelary deity)
In the north of the main hall, there is a subsidiary shrine.

Local people affectionately call the enshrined deity “Sai noKami san”.
Since ancient times, people have prayed to deities to

Basho’s Haiku monument ⑩*Figure in a circle indicates that on the map of the last
page in this and the previous issue.

prevent disasters, pests, and plagues. They offered trees
festooned with a sacred rope at a top of a mountain, in avalley, or by an irrigation ditch in a rice field.
Around the 13th and the 15th century, people regarded
tutelary deities of rice fields (Ta no Kami) and mountains(Yama no Kami) also as deities of good luck (Saiwai noKami). Later, its name naturally changed to “Sai no Kami”.
In Kyushu, deities of fecundity were popular and were fusedwith Sai no Kami. Those were often depicted as reproductiveorgans.

Sai no Kami san ⑫Here, a phallus-formed stone artifact was enshrined in awooden shelter. And, before the World WarⅡ, many local geishas came to visit, and they dedicated wooden
phallus-formed artifacts.
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Horse-Dismounting Stone(Geba Ishi)
In the Edo period, a gebafuda (asignboard to notify that the horseriders had to dismount their horse forentering castles, temples, shrines) was
placed at the entrance of the area. It isoften wooden. However, here, the one
near the grand Torii gate (Otorii) was
made of stone and 1.75 meters high.
Stone Tiger ⑪

Horse-Dismounting Stone ⑬

Stone Tiger (Ishi Tora)
It is a rare artifact, dedicated in 1926 by people who were bornin a year of the Tiger (one of twelve Chinese zodiac signs) as thememorial of their sixtieth birthday.

Around Jizodo Hall
In the east of Tamatare-gu shrine, there is a Jizodo Hall (Jizo isa guardian deity). The Jizo statue in the hall has the inscription of1715 (5th year of Shotoku era).

Piers ⑭

Piers and milestone
Two bridge piers of the old one remain. One of them wasreused as a monument on which the history of the bridge wasinscribed.
We consider that the milestone was originally built at theapproach of the bridge. It showed the direction of north and southwith the inscription of “North, Kurume” and “South, Yanagawa”.
These three were made of the stone which were brought byship from Amakusa (about 150 km away).

Milestone ⑭

Stone tablet of Three Jizos
Three standing Jizos were engraved on a natural stone tablet

0.9 meters high, 1 meter wide and 10 centimeters thick. Thesculptor and the period are unknown, although we consider it
created during the mid-16th century (the late Muromachi period) by
its expression style.

Stone Tablet of Three Jizos ⑭

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Wart-Curing Jizo
A Jizo statue was enshrined at the entrance of a funeral hall on theopposite bank of the Hirokawa River from the Daizanji Tamagare-gu
Shrine. It has the inscription of 1808 (the 5th year of the Bunka era).
The worshipers believe they would get rid of warts if they pray to theJizo.

Yoakezan Chonichi-ji Temple
This is a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect that Shinshi Eison Zenji(monk) established in 1245. (See Kurume History Walks No. 2
featuring Yoakezan Chonichi-ji Temple.)In the schoolyard of Daizenji elementary school next to the temple,
a memorial monument of Eison stands. It is called “Fumo Rei Ato

Wart-Curing Jizo ⑯(Remain of Barren Spirit)” related to the story that he was abandoned
soon after his birth.
It is said that he was born of his father from one of the mostimportant samurai clans and his mother from the local ruling family.
When he was born, strangely, he was emitting light from his mouth.
His parents got so scared that they abandoned him in the bush in thebackyard. It continued for seven days and seven nights.
Genrin Osho (monk) from the neighboring province dreamt of aboy who read the Lotus Sutra, emitting light and beautiful sound fromthe mouth. Then, the next morning, Genrin came to see around, foundthe baby, and took him back to his temple. That baby was Eison Zenji,
who later went to study in the Sung dynasty of China and established

Memorial monument of Eison ⑰

the Yoakezan Chonichi-ji Temple.
The temple name should have come from his legend. (Yoakemeans daybreak and Chonichi is morning sun).
The place where he was abandoned had been known as sterile
ground. People feared the curse and built the monument in 1783 inorder to calm the spirit.

Shomyoin Temple
This is a branch of Daihon-zan Zendo-ji Temple of the Jodo sect,having several stone monuments.

Stone Tablet of Jizo
Designated a City Cultural Property, 1.21 meters high, 0.63meters wide, and 5 centimeters thick, it has the inscription of 1421
(the 28th year of the Oei era).

Stone Tablet of Jizo ⑱

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Stone Statue of Ebisu
Ebisu is the god of the fishery, commerce, and luck. He is one ofthe Seven Gods of Fortune. The worship started in the Heian period(about the 9th - the 12th century) and became popular in the midMuromachi period (about the 14th - the 16th century).
He is generally depicted wearing the traditional clothes which anaristocratic class employed since the Heian period, carrying a fishingrod in the right hand and a sea bream in the left hand, and laughing.
However, there are statues of different appearances in our province.
"Japan’s oldest statue of Ebisu" in Daizenji was recorded in an oldbook. We presume it is the stone statue representing a female deity,Stone Statue of Ebisu ⑲

located in front of the Shomyoin Temple.

Stone tablet of Jizo in Nakashima
This artifact is the stone tablet engraved with the Jizo of 94 cm high,
65 cm wide, and 10 cm thick. Its style and the sculpting technique isvery similar to the one of Shomyoin Temple, then the same stonemason
should have made it.

Stone Tablet of Jizo ⑳⑭ Piers and Milestone⑮ Stone Tablet of Daizen-jiTemple⑯ Warts Curing Jizo
⑰ Memorial monument ofEison⑱ Stone Tablet of Jizo
⑲ Stone Statue of Ebisu⑳

Stone Tablet of Jizo inNakashima

Cultural Properties Protection Department of Kurume
Address: 15-3 Jonan Kurume Fukuoka Japan 830-8520 / Tel: 0942-30-9225
Date of revision: March 31st, 2005 Translated in June 2020
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