不動明王石窟(1925): Fu Dou Myo Ou Grotto

Fu Dou Myo Ou was an avatar of angry Buddha to make naughty devil surrender.

He holds a sword at his right hand. The sword symbolizes wisdom. At his left hand he holds a rope by which he can catch the evil creature.

Fu Dou stands for “unmovable;” Myo, the glow of wisdom, and Ou, king of

the world. He looks angry to scare the devil and subdue it. It was said, the god

is well worshiped by people living near to hot spring area.

The sponsor of erecting this Fu Dou Myo Ou Grotto was the owner of Hosi-noyu (星乃湯) Sano Soutaro.

大師岩(1910): Master of Rock

It was made for the memorial of (弘法大師/Koukai Daishi, or空海和尚). A rock monument was erected at the top of Dan-fung Mountain during Japanese occupation period to protect the Beitou community. As the inscription on the monument was carved in Japanese, obviously it was erected by Japanese living at Beitou at that time.

He went to China to learn religious culture in the 8^th century. When he finished his study, he left China for Japan. During his voyage back to Japan on the sea, the ship he boarded confronted with a strong storm. He prayed Nami-kiri Fu dou Myo Ou for a safe sailing. It worked well and the storm calmed down. A smooth voyage was achieved.

The Master was not only recognized as a god but also a great master in Japanese language culture. A rock monument was carved with Japanese characters saying blessing words for Beitou community. Just beside the rock monument, another grotto was carved for Fu Dou Myo Ou in 1926.

不動明王石窟(1926)

On the same place of Rock of Master, there is also a Fu Dou Myo Ou Grotto.

This grotto is smaller than the first one made in 1925. Similar to the first grotto made by Sano Soutaro, the Beitou residents constructed another smaller grotto next to the Master Rock with the hope of letting the hot spring industry thrive continuously.