Between Ueno Park and Yanaka Cemetery, Jyomyo-In is a Buddhist temple notable for its ranks of jizo, statues of the guardian saint of children. There are so many that it's said there are eighty-four thousand of them, and while that seems implausible (I didn't count them), there are certainly a lot. Most of them are lined up in rows, ancient and weathered, lending to that part of the temple the hushed air of a cemetery, the only sound the leaves rustling in the wind.
Peter Sidell @peter.sidell
I came to Japan from Manchester, England in 2003, and have travelled a lot since then, around Japan and in Asia. When I'm not working, I write satire and perform stand-up comedy in and around Tokyo. Check YouTube for a taste.
