Manazuru

I have not updated this blog lately due to the holidays, illness and exams and reports for my classes. This entry (and the next few) will therefore be about visits and the like that took place a while back.
First of all a brief report of my visit to Manazuru 真鶴 (Kanagawa-ken) . Manazuru is a quiet seaside city where economic activity seems to revolve around fishing and tourism. I encountered several sites were ancestor worship and the afterlife seemed to play a central part when it comes to religious folklore.

The most interesting site I encountered was a cave that seemed to have been made to look slightly South-Asian. Inside were several statues with offerings. The most prominent statue was one of Enma-ō 閻魔王, the Buddhist judge of hell. This deity, which obviously derived from a Hindu deity (namely Yama यम) has similarities with several other religious creatures like Satan or Hades/Pluto as a ruler of the underworld, but also with Saint Peter as he judges the deceased.

Daikoku-ten and Ebisu in a seafood restaurant.

   

It is perhaps hard to see on this picture, but this mystical island had a torii 鳥居 on it. Unfortunately there were no indications that allowed me to get to know more about the meaning and origin of this apparently sacred island.