Kyoto's street-corner jizō, and the August weekend the neighbourhood opens them

Walk any residential block in central Kyoto and you will pass a small wooden hut at hip height, with a stone figure inside wearing a red bib. These are jizō (地蔵), guardians of children and travellers. Each one belongs to the street it stands on.

What you are looking at

The figures sit in a hokora (祠), a shrine about the size of a cupboard. It usually holds fresh flowers, a cup of water and a cloth bib called a yodarekake (よだれかけ). The neighbourhood association, the chōnaikai (町内会), takes turns sweeping it and changing the flowers. A well-kept hokora tells you that people still live on the street.

Jizō-bon, late August

Jizō's feast day is 24 August, and around that date many blocks hold jizō-bon (地蔵盆). The figure is brought out and washed, and on some streets its face is freshly painted. A tent goes up, lanterns with the children's names are hung, and in the afternoon the children sit in a circle and pass a long rosary from hand to hand. This rite is called juzu-mawashi (数珠回し).

Most neighbourhoods now hold it on the nearest weekend, so the date changes from street to street. A notice is usually taped to the hokora a week or two before.

地蔵盆は、町内の子どものための夏の終わりの行事です。

How to pass by

Jizō-bon is a private gathering held on a public street, marking the end of summer for the children of the block. Stop for a moment and bow, and drop a coin in the offering box if you like. Do not photograph the children or step into the tent unless someone waves you in. The quieter lanes south of Shijō, between Karasuma and Horikawa, are a good place to start walking.