iN HAMAMATSU.COM | Culture | Nami-kozou

In Maisaka-juku (Maisaka-cho, Hamamatsu City), a former post town located on the 53rd station of the Tokaido, there is a statue of a god, or perhaps a youkai (supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore) called "Nami-kozou."

Nami-kozou lived in Enshu Nada and gave the fishermen the weather forecast through the sound of drums.
"If you can hear the sound of drums from the southeast, it will rain. Conversely, if you can hear it from the southwest, it will be sunny."
It seems that people decided whether to go fishing depending on that sound.

According to one theory, Nana-kozou is one of the straw dolls made by a monk named Gyoki, who made the great Buddha of Nara. A long time ago, Gyoki, who was at a temple in the northern part of Hamamatsu, made two straw dolls to assist with fieldwork that required more hands. Once the straw dolls fulfilled their duties, they were released from the upper reaches of the Miyakoda River with the wish that the dolls would help people. One of them entered Lake Hamana from the Miyakoda River and the other reached Enshu Nada. One is in Maisaka and the other is in Omaezaki, where the statues are set up.

Actually, although read the same, the two kanji are different; the statue in Maisaka is "浪 Kozo," and the one in Omaezaki is "波 Kozo." I wonder why?

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