Kyoto may be the most famous city in Kansai for it’s temples, but few people realize that Osaka is traditionally a temple town in its own right. While Shitennouji is probably the most well known, every neighborhood in Osaka is dotted with smaller temples, each with their own unique artifacts. Today on the way to work I decided to take the scenic route and check out a few of these lesser known spots in my own neighborhood to see what treasures they held. I found that a surprising number of them pay homage to the deity Fudo (Also known as Acala) Myō-ō, principal deity of the great kings.
お寺といったら京都だけじゃない。大阪にもいっぱいある！四天王寺は一番有名やけど近所にはいろんな小さな渋いお寺もある。今日は通勤中で、そんなに知られてないお寺も調べとこうと思った。以外と不動明王中心のところが多かった。
In the tradition of Japanese television I decided to attach arbitrary rank to them proportional to the amount of ass that they kick. Here goes:
日本のテレビと同じ様にその発見した不動にランクを付けようと思った！さぁ、いくぞ！
My first stop was a small street sandwiched behind a Super Tamade supermarket between Daikoku-cho and Nippon-bashi. Inside I found this Fudo – Obviously not much in the HP department. If it weren’t for the carefully crafted spirit shield and pine sprigs I probably would’ve only given this guy one lantern. I was about to split but decided to peek inside the temple itself where I found this:
まず、近所の玉出の後ろにはさんでいるちっちゃいお寺。このちびがおった。HPは大分低そう。もし、周りの飾り物がなかったら、絶対１提灯しか付けてあげない。ちょうど出ようと思った時、別のビルを気付いた。中にはこれがあった；
Holy shit! Look at this scary bastard! You can’t even see him from the outside – with all the glare on the glass I had to climb up onto the wall and push my camera up against the window to get a clear shot. The spooky electric candles add significantly to the creepy aura! 4 Lanterns!
良くない？怖いやつやなぁ！外から見たら全然見えへん。中も暗いからカメラをガラスに付けないと撮れへん。電気蝋燭があるから特別な恐いオーラがでてる。４提灯をあげる！
Next stop – another Fudo temple. Again, weak like the first one. Sure, he’s made of stone, but the complete lack of a paint job makes his look pretty non-threatening. I gave him an extra half-lantern anyway since he has those guys on either side that heal him like the end boss in Final Fantasy X.
なんか、また弱いやつな。まぁ、確か石で出来ているけど一色で、あまり迫力ない。FFXの最後のボスみたいに側にHPを復活やつ二人がおるからプラス半提灯をするけど。
Ok, maybe it’s not fair to pick on this but… boo! It’s not even 3D!… Even as 2D Fudo renderings go this is pretty bad. He looks annoyed having to wait for a bus rather than vigilantly seeking demons to quell.
虐めるのは良くないけど。これはちょっとじゃない？２Dやし、バスを待っている、退屈そうな表情をやっている。
Right off the Dontonbori river is this guy – the Mizu-kake fudo! People have been throwing water on him for so long his features are completely concealed by boss. Not only does he also have 2 Jizo-dudes to heal his HP when it get’s low, but little Osakan Obaa-chans are constantly throwing life-water on him like every 3 minutes. Plus there’s a gateway leading up to him plastered with Senjafuda and about 100 lanterns bearing his name. 5 Lanterns!
道頓堀の近く、水掛不動！水を掛けすぎて、苔だらけや！地蔵の仲間も付いているし、３分おき、おばあちゃん達が水を掛けてあげる。千社札だらけの入り口もあるし、名前がのっている提灯もいっぱいある。５提灯！
Of course not every structure of worship in Osaka that pays homage to invisible deities is traditional.
もちろん、全てのは伝統的なやつじゃない。
Snake…?
スネーク…?
Snaaaaake!
スネェーエエク！
