Ema (votive tablet) of the legend of the Octopus Jizo who saved Kishiwada Castle
Tenshoji Temple in Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture, is home to a mysterious legend that has been passed down since the Middle Ages.
Long ago, Jizo Bodhisattva, the guardian deity of Kishiwada Castle, was hidden by the castle lord, submerged in the moat to avoid war.
During the Tensho era, when Kishiwada Castle was attacked by the forces of Negoro and Saika from Kishu and was in danger of falling, a monk riding a giant octopus appeared and mowed down the enemy, and then thousands of giant octopuses appeared on huge waves and spit ink at the enemy forces, repelling them. Later, a wounded Jizo Bodhisattva was found in the moat, and it was revealed that the monk was an incarnation of Jizo Bodhisattva.
The Jizo Bodhisattva that was found was enshrined in a small shrine within the castle. This Jizo Bodhisattva is currently enshrined at Tenshoji Temple. The Jizo Hall there is the largest in Japan. Ema plaques related to the legend of the Octopus Jizo are also available here, and it is said that if you make a wish without eating any octopus, your wish will come true.
