Oni-gawara, traditional Japanese decorative roof tiles

If you look closely at the roofs of the Japanese Buddhist temples, on some of them you will notice a very unusual ornament for a temple: the scary head of an oni, a kind of demon from the Japanese folklore.

The decorations are called Oni-gawara (”oni roof-tile") and the oni are, like the Nio guardians, protectors of the temples. So, the fierce look, with horns and sharp teeth, is designed just to scare away the evil spirits… (^_^)

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Hasedera Temple, Kamakura

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Kyoto Shirakawa Tea-houses