Kyoto Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple

More than 800 stone statues sit close together at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple. Splendid autumn leaves put their arms around the statues and give them a comforting hug. The location of today’s Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple (northwest outskirts of Kyoto) was once a location used for open-air burial. As the years passed, the bones withered and scattered in the fields and mountains. A hundred years ago, locals collected the bones and buried them in this temple as a way to grieve for the dead.