This page: Batô Kannon Contents Previous

1. Batô Kannon 2. Trailside Memorial 3. Batô Kannon 4. Horse-Headed Kannon 5. Horse in Magino 6. Batô Kannon

A recent survey has reported that Fujino has over 800 stone buddhas, images of kami and similar memorial stelae throughout the town. As I suggested on the previous page about Fujino history, many of these are related to Fujino's long history as a horse-breeding area. It's a subject I hope to write more about later. Many of the stone memorials are called Batô Kannon (in Sanskrit, Hayagriva), the "Horse-Headed Kannon." Kannon, of course is the bodhisattva of mercy known in Sanskrit as Avalokitesvara, or Guanyin in Chinese. The "horse-headed" Kannon was one of six forms of Kannon, and considered to have jurisdiction of the "realm of animals" (one of the six realms of existence). As part of a rather strange and complex process of syncretism, this deity came to be worshiped as the object of a folk cult dedicated to the tutelary of horses and other livestock. During the premodern periods, Buddhist precepts prevented the Japanese from eating four-legged mammals, and when a horse or ox died after a lifetime of work, it was frequently memorialized with a stele. As the one here shows, the practice continued into the modern period. The engraving on the upper stone (photo no. 1) is worn but legible. The inscription says Batô Kanzeon, and indicates it is a memorial to a "war horse" (gunba) dedicated in Meiji 37, or 1904. The woman of the house told me the horse had been a favorite of the family, but was requisitioned during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and died during the fighting. I frequently take long walks across the mountain behind our house to the Magino district in the south. Along the trail high on the mountainside, one comes across the small Batô Kannon image seen in pictures 2-4. The engraving states that the image was dedicated on the 21st day of the 7th month (lunar) in the year 1850. Why it is located here is anybody's guess. Perhaps the path was a common route over the mountain taken by a farmer with his horse or ox, which died one day as they were walking along here. On the other hand, some such images were installed at watering holes, so this may have formerly been near a source of water (although there's none here today). Picture 4 is an enlargement of the image's horse head; the image appears to have horns, making it resemble an ox (not particularly strange, since many such stelae are dedicated to both horses and oxen). As you pass over the mountain, you come to the farm where the horse in photo 5 is raised. While I frequently walk by the farm, the horse is usually kept inside its barn. This day I was lucky to find it outdoors. The stone stele in the last photo is located beside the road in front of the home of the horse's owner. A simply carved natural stone, the stele is engraved "Batô Kannon" (here is an enlargement of the stone, showing the engraving). I took this photo in late summer when the farmers were drying barley on mats in the road. To return to your previous location, use your browser's "BACK" button, or click your heels together three times while saying, "there's no place like home" . . .

Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
by Norman Havens nhavens@gol.com
Updated: April 20, 2002

URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/