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Ritual And The Public Realm In Japan: Jizo Temples In Neighborhoods, William J. Siembieda

Focus

The local display of Jizo statues and temples, a centuries old cultural Japanese ritual in which an individual or family builds a public temple to house the deity in remembrance of a deceased child, woman, or traveler, is produced, maintained, and protected by neighborhood residents without government or design-professional oversight. Its value lies in the desire of local people for a physical object through which they make personal linkages to devotional practices. This essay examines two propositions about the construction and use of the public realm as expressed through the Japanese practice of neighborhood Jizo statues and temples,: 1) do …