I'm sorry 😭 linfamy the I can't get the sound effects on fan fiction to work right 😢 Oh if you read this I made a puzzle video called. I challenge The puzzle/ challenge is in-between the words. The challenge and now solve it Ignore the rest 😁
When I took my Asian Religion class in college my professor made a point that we should never show any disrespect to Jizo statues because of their importance to mothers who have lost children
You should never show disrespect to the religious/theological figures of any culture. That's just part of not being an a-hole. There is a group in Japan that believes that Jesus visited Japan and influenced the religion. It honestly doesn't add up, but people are gonna believe what they want, ya know?
In sekiro you can find bundled jizo statues, the item states : To enswathe a Jizo statue is to express feelings of parental love. The bundle of cloth is to at least ensure that the little one goes on in peace. You can find some of them in really sad places. The one in senpou temple made me feel teary.
@@edi9892 The monks of senpou temple are conducting experiments on children to gain inmortality. Hundreds of children died in those experiments, including Roberto, the son of the western armoured knight. In a small hill outside senpou temple there are hundreds of small jizo statues and little pinwheels. I believe they were built by kotaro or some other member of the taro troop who reside in senpou, since they themselves are like giant deformed babies. I think that jizo statue you get (which is one of the most powerful items in the game) is a way for the children to support you in your quest on purifying senpou temple. I thought it was touching.
Standing alone in a temple, facing a bank of Jizo statues, with no sound other than that of the pinwheels left by grieving parents being blown by the breeze, is both the eeriest and saddest experiences I've ever had in Japan.
the thing with the child going to Limbo because it died too young gives off the same energy as the people who died of sickness or old age going to Hel in norse mythology. being punished for dying the wrong way, what a grim notion
This thing seems peculiar to Japanese Buddhist sects. Theravada Buddhists seem to believe that rebirth is almost instantaneous i.e. no need to cross some Buddhist Styx river. Tibetan Buddhists seem to believe that there is an interim state between death and rebirth, called the "bardo" states or something, which may last a minimum of 7 days to a maximum of 49 days. I don't remember the crossing of some river being a significant point in the bardo state, but I could be wrong. Either way, I myself come from a Buddhist family and have never heard of babies being abandoned at the river banks of the afterlife. As Linfamy stated, Buddhism blended with local religions in order to spread faster and more effectively. So it's natural that the Buddhisms of different areas take on the peculiarities of the cultures of those areas.
"The main difference between bodhisattvas and gods is that serious Buddhists will teach you great suffering if you call bodhisattvas gods." So they're like saints?
From my study of Buddhism, yes The term literally means a sentient being (sattva) who is enlightened (bodhi). Another way of putting it is that they have achieved bodhicitta (enlightened consciousness, a way of looking upon all sentient beings with love).
Not exactly. Some, many even, are actually gods, insofar as they've been reborn into Tushita or Sukhavati or other heavenly realms. They're somewhere between gods and saints. Or rather, they're gods because they're saints.
there is a couple of old Jizō just next to my parents house. I was told it's technically not ours and it seemed the community members took care of it (cleaning, offering water etc). never asked its origin but yeah, infant death was very real. when I visited my family graves I found the names and ages of the deceased enclaved on the tombstone. many kids in family died too young, and grandpa said it was like that everywhere back in the day.
I've been reading old population records for genealogy purposes and one family (here in central Finland) got stuck in my head for a long time.. The records were from early 1800s and total, that couple gave birth to 14 children but only 6 of them lived past ~seven years of age. They give the same name for 3 of their sons, a name they clearly wanted for the oldest son but the infants/toddlers kept dying... Their 3rd eldest son lived to adulthood. In 1800s/early 1900s there ravaged many infectious diseases (like Scarlet Fever and Tb) across Finland and many small children died because there were no cure or vaccine for those diseases yet. There are so many small graves in old cemeteries up here with birth/death dates that differ only couple of years or even months. Especially from around y.1900 to 1910
many countries in Europe sadly lost their original old beliefs and lore due to aggressive Christianson. I'm sure if a time traveler could research it, most nation's traditions would be just as interesting and varied!
In the game Okami, you can find a lot of these scattered throughout. Over time you can visit a pottery maker who will give you a new vase and flowers, where you can offer them to the little statues. Makes sense as the character you play as is Amaterasu, “The Mother to us all”.
@@Linfamy Absolutely! I spent so much time with the exploration and the photo-mode. It's almost impossible not to get immersed in the game's environment and story. 💙
@@Linfamy please do one on east asian warfare ,how did east Asian societies train for it ,martial arts origin and weapons ,how were pre war rituals eyc
Do you feel that it is because the birth rate has dropped and raising children isn't considered such an essential part of life or do you think that Japan has become too secular for these statues?
@@bigfotpeesonyoutube9647 I mean, child mortality is also way less compared to the early 20th century. Less kids are being born but of those kids, even less are dying in childhood. Japan has around 2 deaths per 1000 live births compared to 75 deaths per 1000 in 1970
@@emilybarclay8831 So you believe that these statues would be seen as quaint nowadays since infant mortality is so low and people are less likely to need to find solace in the loss of a child?
Carried over karma from a previous life I suppose? It would be interesting to hear a master talk about this. I don’t think this exists in other branches of Buddhism.
These mythology/folk religion videos are always some of my favorites. Would be neat to see a video about Kangiten, who is basically Ganesha from Hinduism but heavily altered for Japanese Buddhist tastes. One of the wildest parts is that temples with Kangiten statues keep them in locked boxes that must never be opened, and despite the secrecy he still has a strong following among laypeople.
I see that the comments theme is "where did you first see/hear of jizō statues? " and in my case it was a book: The Woman in the White Kimono - Ana Johns. If you like historical novels i recommend it.
It is amazing how cutthroat of a religion Buddhism can often be. It doesn't seem like the normal rules for reincarnation (which unfortunately have been used to explain and justify people having unfortunate lives, mental infirmities or even physical deformities) apply to babies who die in childbirth or even kids who die young. It seems as if they are automatically punished for dying young. The only sense that I can make of it is that maybe the parents would have been counting on their kids to grow up and take care of them when they were elderly. Basically, the only retirement plan that existed before social security. By a child dying, it would seem that the kid failed to honor its parents by failing to provide them with a comfortable or at least stable life in old age. Basically, the death of the kid would mean that the kid was dishonoring its family, even if it was not intentional. That's the only sense that I can make of it, anyway. Edit: I was mistaken in applying this belief in "baby Hell" to Buddhism overall, given that it's a Japanese take that doesn't fit within the original, unadulterated Buddhist scriptures. However, my belief in the unfairness of ascribing lives spent in misery and misfortune to Karma from a past existence stands.
Yeah, it's a surprisingly hardcore religion. Before I started learning about it, I always imagined Buddhists as just a bunch of mountain-hippy philosophers that practiced chemistry and did cool martial arts. Ah well, I guess no faith is without it's harsher elements.
@@Daniel_Lancelin I mean, at least budhist are based of truth and wisdom, instead of other religion which story seems like there hiding the truth from people, I mean, how are you gonna develop if you are trapped in a cycle based on lie , stupidity and ignorance?
@@w.dgaster6386 Oh, I wasn't trying to condescend their beliefs or anything like that, I was just saying that I was surprised by how harsh some of it is. My mental image of it was always the kindly old Tibetan guy who lives in a monastery, not the *_Ikkō-shu warrior-monks_* or something lol. I've been researching it more lately as part of my studies on Japan, and it's very interesting to see how their traditions and beliefs changed across cultures.
I had always heard of Jizo statues in connection to "kirisute gomen" so its cool to hear about the much broader story and much larger practice of the Jizo statues
In Christianity saints can't become god, to be granted sainthood by the Catholic church , have to preform a documented miracle. In Buddhism, the bodhisattva is choosing to not become a God to help people and is reincarnated to other bodies, continuing to live among the unenlightened. Doesn't feel similar to me
Cool and easy to understand explanation on Bodhisattva. In Buddhism view Gods are still stuck in Samsara and very much attach to worldly things, Bodhisattvas are not. But other than that, function as their version of god in their own right. AFAIK in Theravada, Bodhisattva refer to previous incarnations of the OG Buddha as it takes many many life times to reach enlightenment. They do have concept of Arhat, however. Someone who already achieved Nirvana while still living. But unlike Bodhisattva, Arhat does not reincarnate to help other people but waiting for their karma to runs its course and escape Samsara when they die.
I've not watched the video yet but Memoirs of a Geisha (the book, not the movie) makes mention of Mameha praying to jizo statues for the abortions she had to have or else she would've had to give up working (though the real geisha the whole book was greatly inspired by, Mineko Iwasaki, states that if it is a girl, there's a greater likelihood that the baby will be welcomed, as she can be trained up from the actual traditional age of three instead of later in life). I believe now, you cannot become a full-time geisha until you have graduated junior high, which in Japan is around the age of fifteen. The training of a geisha doesn't teach much of anything related to science, math, social studies, languages, etc, so to better connect with their customers, and for the sake of a girl choosing...or being forced to take a different career path, at least a junior high education is mandatory. Sorry, that got totally off track, lol.
I wanted to comment on this to let you know that I really appreciated your comment. I really loved that book and the history that came with it, but I had no actual useful comment so.... yeah. >.>
In Victoria BC, there is a special garden where parents can put “spirit houses” for their lost babies from miscarriage or stillbirth. I have one for my twins, and one for my recent miscarriage. Due to covid I can’t visit (no border crossings) but I hope someone passes their stone house and leaves a small pebble or leaf or something
If y all think Japans population crisis is bad tier appearently S Korea drifts stright into literal extinction depression this might includes taiwan too but out of the trio the worst youthless decimation is in s korea
Aren’t both countries where, unless you’re fabulously wealthy, you need two incomes to support a family? It’s a bad situation to plunge a mother into. Only mothers who happen to work for a European/American firm tend to (not all, it depends on who the company picks or sends to run the overseas firm) be fortunate enough to have an employer willing to accommodate a pregnant woman.
@@darter9000 exactly! That as well as the marriage laws are quite literally a financial and psychological butcher sentence for the potentially former bachelors
South Korea is swimming in traditions, culture and laws that prevent anything getting better ever or at least for a veeeery long time, I hope people become happy, kind and prosperous :(
Dear Linfamy Sir, do you think the Japanese people will ever overcome the stigma concerning Japanese orphans and children in the foster care system? If more people would be willing to adopt or at least give them homes, there would be a Lot Less Childless Households.
No. Unless the family/kazoku registry system changes, social stygma will win. Adult adoption still happens in some cases, but that is for heirloom purposes.
@@LathropLdST I'm actually very aware of these systems. I believe the entire system of family registry needs to be seriously reevaluated in order for the whole society to thrive.
Politicians and social workers are working on it, but it's an uphill battle. As you realize, we need reevaluation. I'd say we likely need to deploy healthcare workers and child development workers to document the damage being done as well as how much it costs to twist a few ankles and wrists towards reminding people that tradition can bankrupt a nation.
@@jamie1602 agreed... and that's a very thoughtful approach, to such a very complicated situation. The desire to keep culture alive is completely understandable, but perhaps recognizing that any living culture must evolve to survive its own changing circumstances is what will actually keep it thriving.
@@darthtaiter It seems like the population crisis in Japan is very much related to several societal problems. Lack of adoption, xenophobia (the billionaire founder of Softbank might still not be a Japanese citizen (?) since his parents were from Korea), and sexism (the ridiculousness with Japanese royal women still not being able to inherit the throne so women get abused for not giving birth to boys)
Watching again (and linking to a musical friend who asked what Jizo statues were). This is really good content, Lin. It acts as a bridge between cultures, focusing on the syncretic elements, allowing us to look through different eyes, if only for a moment. +2 Internets.
Are they also like those teddy shrines with candles you can find in Europe, mostly on roads and at rivers? We set them up, when a kid dies there. I know a road which had 5 of them despite not being that crazy long. Even worse: this road is perfectly straight and broad enough that you could make evasive driving maneuvers without crashing into trees and yet, I once saw a car wreck on my way to work. Both front doors were open, the driver was gone, but the girl at his side remained hanging in the seatbelt. She was still a teen and dressed for party. She was clearly dead and what really hit me was the realisation that she must have died yesterday, or in the early morning and yet her corpse was still there at 8:00. Thus, hundreds must have drove past her and not informed authorities, nor did the driver... To add even further disrespect, no new cross was erected at the site of her demise, not even a candle put there...
Oh, this explains the Japanese Barcode Battler II card, "Chiezo", which depicts a statue which can tell the player where to find one of the missing keys.
The story I'd heard was that it was specifically a single old hag whose name I can't remember who torments babies along the Sanzu river and I seem to remember her doing things too horrible for Linfamy to mention. I think I also remember Jizo (or a figure that was probably suppose to be Jizo) offer himself up as the subject of the hag's torment to free the babies.
Wow... you're content is hilarious, and solidly unsettling (in a good way) at the same time. I love it. Japan, & it's history/culture is very intriguing.... Even if what I learn isn't "easy" to understand or agree with, it's still overwhelmingly fascinating.
Wait--so if the bebe makes enough stone statues s/he'll be guided across the river by Jizō? What do the towers represent? How is building them an act of repentance?
It represents the virtue for their parents which haven't done when alive. Well, there is no source in the Buddhist scriptures, but it is just a folk belief.
Buddhism was already integrated with Shintoism in many areas, so unless they are a very strict sect, I think the belief in Jizo was naturally incorporated into Buddhism at that time.
Earlier today I went to a health store that sold books. As I walked to another area I felt something or someone looking at me but I could feel a happy and calm nature near me. I turn around and it was this little stone statue with a smile on its face and head tilted. But I decided to buy it. After I checked out the lady told me it was a jizo san statue. After doing research jizo was a amazing person. Guess that’s why I was attracted to the statue
So, babies can be taken under the age of seven but are blamed for causing pain, even though they were kidnapped? And, red is used to guard against impurities but menstrual blood, that is red, is impure. Contradictions, why?
I like the translation of bodhisattva being saints or minor gods. That seems to make more sense. I knew Jizo was the god of travelers and kids, so I made offerings when I saw a shrine when I was visiting. But the rest is all new to me. The crossing of the Sanzu River sounds just like the crossing of the River Styx in Greek mythology.
I remember getting a recommendated reel on Instagram that was an American girl taking a picture of the "cute little statues in adorable red bibs" at a Japanese cemetary...ooooffff
At least she wasn't touching them, stealing them or disrespecting them like some people do in bone sanctuaries or graveyards, did wish someone could tell her the cute dolls have a tragic reason to be there like road teddies, at least she'd grow from the discovery and learn if she's kind enough to listen
It's funny how the gaijin said that only Japan has a declining birthrate, but it's becoming a worldwide phenomenon. I'm waiting for their next projection on Japan.
it is everywhere, due to people having to spend more time working when young...but worse in japan than most other places. we'll be seeing more of it this century.
I'm gonna tell my kids they will have to swim across the river in hell if they draw on the walls. Great suggestion.
3 года назад
Brazilian here; those stacks of stones are found in rivers, waterfalls, and basically any place considered 'spiritual' or 'sacred' here. I wonder if the lore behind it is similar to this one
You ever hear a word so many times in succession that your brain starts to drift off? I swear at one point Jizō turned into Jesus in my mind and I did a double take.
I have spent alot of time in Japan and I studied the culture ( I asked alot of questions to the locals I often hung out with ) it is very secular but the culture merged with their beliefs into a custom more than a religious practice, alot like modern Christmas is for alot of people including Japan ( they love KFC ) but it's a family/ dating day.
So this is the context/partial inspiration for Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Bankai And its name,Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, from Bleach. Kinda makes it more disturbing...
I find it horrible how some beliefs really think children end up in hell or limbo. Children are innocent beings free from sin. They're automatically sent to the highest level of heven.
There is a story in Ranma 1/2 where Mousse is so fed up eith being ignored and mistreated by Shampoo and Cologne that he gives a Jizo statue the scarf he was making for Shampoo that she ruined by running over him with his bike. That statue then turns into an image of Shampoo that Mousse thinks is the real deal but spends so much time trying to please the statue, which won't let anyone mess with him, he's dying of exhaustion. In the end, it turns out the Jizo was thanking anyone who offered it things to keep it warm in the winter. Knowing the truth makes the story a bit darker now with the idea that Jizo protects the souls of dead babies.
The children limbo reminds me of teachings of catholic church making ppl believe their children must be christened asap or they ll be unable to go to heaven if they die...similar cut throat ruthless approach in Buddhism i see.
At 7:20 to what you were doing that quote about selling that item.. What if the guys doing the torturing is actually these guys. Because he said "buy this or else"
Isn't there like a story about a man that trades his wares for Seven hats. On his way back he finds Seven statues that are Being snowed on. He feels sorry for them and gives them the hats. The next morning he finds fine wares in front of his house and Seven dragmarks
