Whispered Shadow·Rakusai / Saga

Takamura's Return from the Underworld

Ono no Takamura (802–852) is said to have served the court by day and King Enma's tribunal by night (by tradition). Entering the underworld through the well at Rokudo Chinno-ji in the Eastern Hills, he is held to have returned to the living from this spot in Saga—hence "Sho no Rokudo," the Living Six Paths. Fukusho-ji, the gate of return, was abolished in the Meiji era; the neighboring Saga Yakushi-ji (a sub-temple of Seiryo-ji) now keeps the Living Six Paths Jizo and a statue of Takamura. A Kyoto city stele stands in Fujinoki-cho.

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.