Kannon

Like Jizo, Kannon (Sanskirt: Avalokitesvara; Chinese: Kuan Yin) is an important Bodhisattva, an incarnation of the Buddha who has voluntarily renounced Enlightenment in order to guide lesserbeings though the realms of existence. In Japan, as in China, Kannon is usually depicted in female form.

In the Tsugaru region, as in many other regions in Japan, there is a popular pilgrimage through thirty-three major Kannon sites. The members of Akakura Mountain Shrine undertake this pilgrimage every June.

There is also a line of thirty-three kannon statues stretching up the left ridge of the Akakura gorge culminating in a large Shokannonsama statue near the mountain's summit, an important route of mountain shugyo (ascetic discipline). This large statue was carved, and carried to the summit, by the foundress' brother.

Finally, there is an assemblage of thirty three small kannon statues in the rear area of Akakura Mountain Shrine, centered around a large statue of Kannon. This area functions as the ritual center of the Ancestral Memorialization (Senzo Kuyo) ceremony each October.

See: Statues of Kannon at Akakura

See: List of the 33 sacred Kannon sites of the Tsugaru region