Making Public Space in Japan: Jizo shrines in neighborhoods

Authors

  • William Siembieda

Abstract

The process of creating and maintaining citizen serving public space is interest to a wide range of city design professionals and public officials.  The Project for Public Space has found that successful projects possess four qualities: they are accessible; people are engaged in activities there; the space is comfortable; and it is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit  (www.pps.org). Using these qualities as a framework this article explores the Japanese practice of placing small Buddhist shrines in neighborhoods, and examining how the shrines function as public spaces.

References

Jan Chozen Bays, Jizo Bodhisattva: Guardian of children, travelers, and other voyagers. Boston, MA, Shambhata Publications 2002.

Hank Glassman, The face of Jizo: Image and cult in medieval Japanese Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press 2012.

Bardwell L. Smith (2013). Narratives of sorrow and dignity: Japanese women, pregnancy loss and modern rituals of grieving, Oxford University Press 2013.

Jizo-bon festival with children source: http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/jizobone.html

Images are by author, except as noted.

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Published

2018-12-29

How to Cite

Siembieda, W. (2018). Making Public Space in Japan: Jizo shrines in neighborhoods. L’architettura Delle città  - The Journal of the Scientific Society Ludovico Quaroni, 9(12-13). Retrieved from http://architetturadellecitta.it/index.php/adc/article/view/206

Issue

Section

L'Architettura delle città-The Journal of Scientific Society Ludovico Quaroni