tsukiji liondog 鉄漿獅子 (tsukiji, japan)

Posted by timothy sullivan (Tokyo, Japan) on 12 June 2008 in Lifestyle & Culture and Portfolio.

At first look, this seems just to be one of the stone "lion-dogs" that serve as guardians, protecting so many of the Japanese temples. Traditionally, however, the lion-dogs were placed not outside temples--as they are today--but under the roofs of the gate or within the temples/shrines themselves. Such is the case of this particular lion-dog: normally unseen by the public, it is displayed only a handful of rare, special occassions during the year (as with this particular festival).

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