S P O T ／ SPOT-339

Hananoki Three-Buddha Cliff Carving

花の木三尊磨崖仏はなのきさんぞんまがいぶつ

Deep in the woods of the old Hananoki district of Iga City, a single huge granite boulder—roughly eight meters wide—carries on its south face three standing Buddhas carved in bold high relief: Shakyamuni on the right, Amida in the center, and a staff-bearing Jizo on the left, each flanked by a lotus-filled treasure vase. What sets this cliff carving apart is its date. An inscription reads "the first year of Tokuji" (1306), with the name of its patron, making it one of the very few magaibutsu in the region that can be dated with certainty—and an early one at that, predating the famous Yagyu Jizo of 1319. A Mie Prefecture Designated Tangible Cultural Property, it sits along the Iwane River at the end of a small path leading off the perimeter of a former elementary school, with square sockets at the boulder's corners hinting at a wooden canopy that once sheltered it. Mossed over and tucked into the trees, it is a quietly powerful relic of how medieval travelers along the Yamato–Iga road sought salvation in stone.