S P O T ／ SPOT-221

Hogyu Stone Buddha, the 100th Statue (Ojo-in Temple)

放牛石仏 100体目ほうぎゅうせきぶつ ひゃくたいめ

The 100th Hogyu Stone Buddha is a stone Jizo Bodhisattva statue enshrined in the grounds of Ojo-in, a Jodo-sect Buddhist temple in Ikeda, Nishi Ward, Kumamoto City. It was the final piece in a decade-long project undertaken by the mid-Edo period monk Hogyu (d. 1732), who vowed to build over a hundred stone Buddhas to pray for the salvation of his father, a blacksmith reportedly killed by a samurai. Built between 1722 and 1732, the seated figure measures approximately 186 cm in height, making it the largest of all known Hogyu statues, of which 107 have been confirmed as of February 2021. The Jizo is depicted on a lotus pedestal holding a staff and wish-granting jewel, with the pedestal and halo bearing the dates of construction and didactic Buddhist verses. Ojo-in itself is an ancient temple founded in 1228 by Benko, a disciple of the Pure Land master Honen. Together with the 6th statue, also preserved on site, the 100th Buddha marks the symbolic completion of Hogyu's vow and remains a focal point of local folk devotion, traditionally associated with healing toothaches, warts and lactation.