Funagatayama Shrine
Main Image Gilt-Bronze Standing Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
Impression TagsMysteryNobilityDepth
DescriptionFunagatayama Shrine in Masuzawa, Yoshida, Taiwa Town, preserves a gilt-bronze standing Bodhisattva as its sacred object. Taiwa Town introduces it as an ancient imported Buddhist image believed to be among the oldest in Tohoku. Normally kept in a secret location, the image is brought into the shrine hall by the priest and unveiled during the annual Bonten Bayai festival on May 1. Worshipers judge the year’s weather and crop prospects from the amount of moisture on the image and pray for a good harvest. A temple once administered the shrine as its betto before the formal separation of Shinto and Buddhism, and the site retains strong traces of shinbutsu-shugo, the historical blending of the two traditions. It is a rare place where an ancient Buddhist image remains linked to agricultural faith within a shrine tradition.
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