Jizō the Patron Buddhist Saint of Children, Travelers, and Firefighters Own Celebration Day

Jizō Bon

Kansai region (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe) have a kind of festival day for children on August 23rd and 24th called Jizō Bon. Jizō is a kind of Buddhist saint called a Bodhisattva that is someone who has attained Buddha-hood, but has chosen to remain on earth to help others. There are statues of Jizō all over Japan and usually they at least have a cap to keep their heads to keep them warm in winter, sometimes there is even more clothing. During this festival children will clean, paint, and cloth the Jizō statues in their neighborhood, set up a stall near the Jizō and sell flowers and sweets, play games, and do something with the Buddhist rosary in which adults will tell them about their memories.

This is primarily a child based festival that is centered on Kyoto, but other places in Kansai may do something as well. It signifies the end of summer vacation and the coming of autumn. It really isn’t a touristy thing, but if you are in Kyoto at this time, by all means buy some flowers, have some sweets, take some photos, and just take it all in and have fun.

References

In English

http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/jizobone.html

https://goinggaijin.com/2014/08/25/jizo-bon/

In Japanese

https://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/71874/

https://kotobank.jp/word/地蔵盆-520164

Photo thanks to juraihelm @ PhotoZou.com.

---

---

Deep Cuts of Japonica from Rakuten Japan

---

Other Articles You Might Be Interested In