Tengu and Kashozan Mirokuji Temple

The long-nosed tengu figures at Kashozan Mirokuji have been guardian deities here for centuries, and visitors still borrow papier-mache masks from the temple to place on home altars for protection, returning them the following year. The tradition likely grew alongside the silk farming industry, where tengu were believed to protect silkworms. In 1939, members of the local chamber of commerce dedicated what remains one of the largest tengu masks in Japan, measuring 6.5 meters across. Its back is covered with around 50,000 paper prayer slips. A slightly smaller mask from 1971, donated as a prayer for traffic safety, stands beside it.