The jizo are everywhere in Japan - they're little statues that work as guardians, protecting a local neighbourhood from ill. This one is in Fujisawa, and is really unusual because it's in a boat. It's at the base of a hill upon which once stood a castle. The story I remember reading is that when the castle was under siege, an old lady came to the lord of the attacking army and said she knew a way into the castle. She showed him, they sneaked in and took over the castle pretty easily.
As a reward he killed her so no-one else would find out about the secret entrance. He did build a shrine in her memory though and this is it. That’s gratitude for you.
I like to think that on misty evenings when the wind is up, you can still hear her voice saying, “You could have just said ‘thank you’.”
