Blue-Faced Vajra

I have encountered several similar statues along the street side in the past months, but now finally I have been able to identify them. Shōmen kongō 青面金剛 (often translated in English as “the Blue-face Vajra” is a fearsome looking deity with one face, three eyes and usually six arms which gives him an unmistakable Esoteric look. He is often depicted trampling a demon with the famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys (見ざる 聞かざる 言わざる mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru) sitting at the bottom of the scene. The numerous sculptures throughout the cities and villages of Japan are being dedicated to him since his association with the Kōshin 庚申faith in the Edo period. Kōshin faith is not some Tantric Buddhist practise of South Asian, but a Taoist tradition from China. According to Taoism, every human body houses three worms (三尸san shi) who keep track of a person’s good and bad deeds. These worms are believed to go up to the Heavenly King (天帝) every sixty days when their host is asleep to report his/her deeds. As the Heavenly King will shorten the lives of those committing bad deeds based on these reports some people would stay up all night on the day of Kōshin to prevent the worms from leaving their bodies (庚申講Kōshinkō). Shōmen kongō, who is called Kōshin-san 庚申さん since his association with Shinkō faith, is believed to be able to make the three worms sick preventing them from going up to the Heavenly King altogether.

Shinkō-san/Shōmen kongō near Hōmyō-ji 法明寺 in Zōshigaya 雑司ヶ谷

Shinkō-san/Shōmen kongō not far from Kotakemukaihara 小竹向原 　

 

Shinkō-san/Shōmen kongō in Ekoda 江古田

Sources:

• Tanaka, Yoshiyasu (田中義恭).『面白いほどよくわかる仏像の世界: 仏像の種類・歴史から鑑賞のポイントまで』(Omoshiroi hodo yoku wakaru butsuzō no sekai: butsuzō no shurui, rekishi kara kanshō made). Tokio: Nihon bungeisha (日本文芸社), 2008. P146.　

• Information provided near shrine in Ekoda