Title The First Choishi Stone Marker

  • Wakayama
Topic(s):
Historic Sites/Castle Ruins
Medium/Media of Use:
Interpretive Sign
Text Length:
≤250 Words
FY Prepared:
2019
Associated Tourism Board:
hashimoto・itokoikikankokyogikai

一町石

この町石は、町石道の根本大塔から奥之院墓地を経由して高野山の開祖である空海という僧(諡号 弘法大師、774-835)の廟である奥の院へと続く区間の始まりを示すものです。

町石という言葉は、「町」という昔使われていた109メートルに相当する長さの単位と「石」を合わせたものです。この参詣道には、およそ109メートルの間隔で36の町石があります。それぞれの高さはおよそ3メートルで、五輪塔(五重の塔)の形に彫られており、諸仏の中でその町石が表す仏尊の名に加えて彫刻者の名と建立日が刻まれています。


The First Choishi Stone Marker


This stone pillar (choishi) marks the beginning of the section of the Choishi Michi (Stone Marker Trail) that leads from the Konpon Daito pagoda to Okunoin Temple, the mausoleum of the priest Kukai (known posthumously as Kobo Daishi; 774–835), via the vast Okunoin Cemetery.

The pillar’s name comes from a combination of cho, an ancient length of measurement equivalent to 109 meters, and ishi, which means stone. There are 36 stone pillars placed at intervals of about 109 meters to mark the trail. Each is some 3 meters tall and sculpted in the shape of a gorinto (five-elements pagoda). The name of the Buddhist figure it is dedicated to is inscribed on each rock, along with the name of the sculptor and the date it was completed.


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