About this room

Kṣitigarbha (地藏, Jizō) is the bodhisattva of the great vow. In East Asian tradition the vow is summed up in a single line: not to attain buddhahood until the hells are emptied and every being has been carried across.

That vow is why Jizō is found at the edge of the village rather than at its centre — at crossroads, at graves, at the roadside where travellers and children pass. In Japan the figure is affectionately called O-Jizō-san, and is trusted with the remembrance of children who died young and of those who died on the road.

This site is not a temple, a ritual, or a substitute for either. It is an interactive cultural work: a place to pause, to light something, to count, to breathe.

• Nothing here is recorded. No account, no cookie, no analytics, no server that stores your words.
• Nothing here is for sale, and there is no way to give money.
• If you want to do something for someone, the tradition would say: do it in the world, not on a screen.

Credits

Jizō Bosatsu, ca. 1202, by Kaikei. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0).

The bell and the low tone are synthesised in your browser with the Web Audio API — no audio file is downloaded, and no recording is licensed from anyone.