One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.66Sazaido at Five Hundred Rakans Temple

A “rakan” is a disciple who undergoes training under Buddha. In Chinese Buddhism there was a custom of worshipping a group of rakan sculptures enshrined in a temple. The number of sculptures was usually 16 or 18. This custom was imported into Japan, and similar temples were erected all over the country.
A Buddhist priest and sculptor living in Edo city sympathized with the custom, shut himself up in Sensoji Temple at Asakusa and carved 520 wooden life-size sculptures modelled on those enshrined in a famous temple on Kyushu island. After completing them in 1695, he also built a temple to enshrine the sculptures. The temple was built with funds donated by worshippers, including wealthy merchants and such dignitaries as a shogun’s mother. As the temple had no parishes which would support it financially, the priests usually travelled throughout the city asking for alms.
Instead of drawing the huge temple which housed 520 rakans, Hiroshige has depicted a smaller three-storied temple named Sazaido standing in the same compound. Sazaido was so-called because of its spiral staircase, similar to the shape of a “sazai”, or turbo shell. Having gone around three times as they climbed, visitors reached the veranda which commanded a magnificent view of the temple surroundings. At the far end of the paddy fields were seen piles of lumber standing upright in the timber yards lying along the Onagi river. Being so popular among Edo people, this temple induced both Hiroshige and Hokusai to depict it for inclusion in their series of prints.