Shimotorito Memorial Stone Pagoda

One Memorial Stone, Designated by the State in 1935

Shimotorito Memorial Stone Pagoda (下鳥渡供養石塔, Shimotoriwata Kuyo Sekito in the record's reading) stands at Shimotoriwata, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, a stone of the Kamakura period, designated by the state on 7 June 1935. Its category is that of historic sites.

The managing body is Fukushima City.

The Agency places it on the hill behind the temple Yosenji. A memorial stone of this kind is raised to pray for the repose of the dead.

Who Raised It, and for Whom, Is Carved on It

On the sides of the stone are cut the one who raised it and the purpose.

The Agency records an inscription on the left side and a date on the right side.

The left inscription reads that this offering is for a compassionate mother, respectfully presented by a woman of the Taira family. Compassionate mother is a Buddhist way of speaking of one's mother with reverence. The right inscription gives the 28th day of the 9th month of the second year of Shoka, corresponding to 1258.

It is, then, a stone raised by a woman of the Taira family for her mother. The one who raised it is named only as a woman of the Taira.

At the grave of Fumi no Nemaro, an epitaph plate gives the name of the dead and the day of death.

Here what is carved is not the one who lies at rest but the one who prayed and the one prayed for. The words of the giver remain on the stone.

The Amida Triad Descending to Welcome the Dead

On the face of the stone is shown the scene of a buddha coming to meet the dying.

The Agency records that the face of a stone of andesitic tuff was polished, and the Amida triad descending in welcome carved on it in half relief.

The Amida triad is the buddha Amida with two attendant bodhisattvas. The descent in welcome expresses the belief that Amida comes to meet a person at death. Half relief raises the figures about halfway from the surface.

The face is first polished, then the triad carved in relief upon it.

The Agency closes that it is a rare work, showing how the belief in Amida's welcoming descent was expressed in this region in the Kamakura period.

On a stone raised for a mother is carved Amida coming to receive the dead. The purpose of the prayer and the image cut are joined.

Measured in Shaku, Described in the Style of Its Time

The record itself keeps the form of the time it was written.

The Agency gives it as 5 shaku 9 sun 5 bu high above ground, 4 shaku 2 sun wide and 1 shaku 2 sun thick: about 1.8 metres high, 1.27 metres wide and 0.36 metres thick.

The commentary is written in literary Japanese with katakana, in the manner of the 1930s.

At Nakabusa hot spring, too, the commentary survives in the katakana literary style of 1928.

This one also stands in the style of its designation in 1935, and its measurements are in the unit of the day, the shaku.

In the online database, one character, the first of the name Amida in its old form, cannot be displayed and appears as a black square.

Visiting

The stone stands at Shimotoriwata, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, on the hill behind Yosenji. Fukushima City is the managing body.

The stone is andesitic tuff, polished on its face for the triad, with inscriptions on the left and right sides.

The date carved on it is 1258; the designation came in 1935.

It stands in the open behind a temple, so whether and how it may be visited follows the arrangements of the managing body and the temple. Check before travelling.

No owner is recorded.