YAKIMONO JIZO-BOSATSU

Known as the patron saint of children, travelers and those languishing in jigoku (hell), Jizo Bosatsu is one of a large number of "deities" in Buddhism. If you have ever traveled to Japan you will find Jizo literally everywhere, along roadsides, in gardens and cemeteries and of course in Buddhist temples crisscrossing the country. Illustrated is a small, sculpted stoneware Jizo-bosatsu figure made by Mashiko ceramic artist and sculpture, Fujiwara Ikuzo. Though quite idiosyncratic to the artist, Fujiwara has kept the idealized features of the praying Jizo so that the imagery is immediately identifiable from the forehead jewel representing the third eye to the long earlobes and serene expression alluding to the state of nirvana. Like many of Fujiwara Ikuzo's figures, this small okimono has a somewhat comical appearance not intended to mock or satire the iconography but perhaps to make it more approachable and easier to fit within the modern home as welcomed guest and spiritual representative and advisor. What ever his intentions, this wonderful little Jizo-bosatsu figure is likely to find himself quite at home from bookshelf to home alter and just about anywhere he may wander.