Author: Ellen Wolff

Photo caption: Zoshigaya Kishimojin-do is a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, that was founded in 1578. Kishimojin, to whom the temple is dedicated, is the goddess of safe birth and child rearing. The grounds are home to one of the largest ginkgo trees in Tokyo: the "Child-giving ginkgo." Estimated to be more than seven hundred years old, the tree is said to grant hope for fertility and easy childbearing to women who worship Kishimojin, as well as protection for their children. Kishimojin was not always known for her benevolence. Mother to thousands of children, Kishimojin would abduct the children of others and feed them to her own. The grieving mothers begged the Buddha for his help. In order to teach the goddess a lesson, the Buddha abducted her youngest child, hiding the boy under a rice bowl. After searching across the universe for her missing child, a distraught Kishimojin appealed to the Buddha for aid. When he pointed out how much suffering she had caused other mothers, many of whom had lost their only children whereas she had lost only one of thousands, Kishimojin vowed henceforth to devote herself to protecting children.