One of the six jizo statues that form a set called Roku Jizo. Roku Jizo can be found at temples all over Japan, and this particular statue is located in a local cemetery not far from where I live in Osaka.

Rakan or Arhats were the five hundred disciples of the Buddha. Although my favorite place to see stone statues of rakan is Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple in Kyoto, Daienji Temple in Tokyo also has unique statues of rakan in a very different style. If you are interested in Buddhist statues such as rakan and jizo as I am, the best source of information I have found is the website onmarkproductions.

I liked this jizo at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo because of the flowers surrounding it. Even though they are plastic blossoms, they still speak of a mother’s love for her lost child.