"Jizo, the bodhisattva (bosatsuin in Japanese) has become the most beloved figure of Japanese Buddhism. Stone figures of Jizo populate temple grounds, city and country.  O-Jizo-Sama, as he is often respectfully called, is one of the most venerated Bosatsu in all of Japan.  He is usually portrayed as a monk, wearing robes with a shaven head.  He often holds a staff called a shakujo.  This is used to both scare away living creatures so he doesn’t hurt them accidentally, and to awaken us from our dream-like world of illusion.  On images and statues, he holds a wish-granting jewel that he shares with Kanzeon Bosatsu and Vishnu in the Hindu tradition" (Traditional Kyoto).  Image from Harper's, 1895.