Japanese Buddhist Folktales

Japanese Buddhist Folktales

The "Trading Places" Jizo

A long time ago, Marugame Beach in Sanuki was a splendid place of white sand and green pines.

One day, some children were playing in the water by the seashore, as they always did. However, the smallest of the children was caught in the strong current. No matter how good a swimmer a child might be, he was no match for the strong rip tide at this beach. All of the children panicked and were all in a flurry.

From out of nowhere a child came running toward them with great force. He dove into the sea, rescued the child who was drowning, and pulled him back to shore.

The child whose life had been saved and his parents who came quickly to the beach joyfully embraced and said to each other, "Thank heaven, thank heaven!"

The villagers all heaved a sigh of relief. However, they realized all of a sudden that the boy who had saved the child was nowhere to be found.

"Where is the boy who saved him?"

They all searched the area, but could not find him. There was nothing more to do about it, so they all trudged along home, and as they passed by the village's Jizo shrine, it happened.

"Oh, look! Jizo is soaking wet!" one child cried out. And sure enough, when they took a good look inside the shrine, they saw that Jizo was dripping with seawater from head to toe.

"Jizo-sama, thank you for really helping us out. . . ."

The villagers said this over and over, their hands folded in prayer before him. And their faith grew even stronger than before. Since that time, no more children ever drowned at that beach.

(A story from Kagawa Prefecture)

This article was originally published in the July-September 2007 issue of Dharma World.


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