Daishoin

This guide to Daisho-in on Miyajima near Hiroshima follows the roughly one thousand small stone statues of Fudo Myoo lining the stairway up to the temple, each one donated by a worshipper to mark the succession of the temple's seventy-seventh head priest. It explains the economy of devotion behind them, and behind the brass prayer wheels further up the steps, each holding a rolled copy of the Heart Sutra. You'll also hear how statesman Ito Hirobumi funded repairs to the mountain trail above the temple. Look closely at any one figure's face as you climb; someone paid specifically for that scowl to stand there.