Asking a mummy to bring you good fortune may seem strange to some, but it’s a way of life at Ryusui-ji Dainichibo Temple tucked away in northern Japan in the rural city of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. The temple holds one of Japan’s 16 self-mummified monks or living buddhas
Asking a mummy to bring you good fortune may seem strange to some, but it’s a way of life at Ryusui-ji Dainichibo Temple tucked away in northern Japan in the rural city of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture.
The temple holds one of Japan’s 16 self-mummified monks or living buddhas ( sokushinbutsu), most of which are spread across the Tohoku region in Yamagata and Fukushima prefectures. Though it sounds Halloween-esque, the sokushinbutsu believed their eternal bodies would serve as a bridge to the spirit realm, bringing prosperity to those who worshipped them.
