Even Jizō’s Face Will Grow Angry if Stroked Three Times

Jizō is usually shown with a compassionate and benevolent expression, so it is easy to imagine that he is entirely incapable of anger. Yet even Jizō may become angry when treated harshly and when his patience is repeatedly tested. In the same way, even the most tolerant person will eventually lose their temper if pushed too far. This is expressed in the proverb ‘Even Jizō’s face will grow angry if stroked three times’. It is also shortened to ‘Even Jizō’s face - three times’.

The proverb reminds us that everyone’s patience has a limit. One must distinguish between what may and may not be done, and remember that even a single malicious remark directed at another person can sometimes have consequences lasting a lifetime.

In the print, Jizō is shown with a halo containing a sacred jewel. This is an unusual representation of Jizō.

The elderly man standing before him has apparently been voicing his dissatisfaction. He has thrown down his staff, suggesting that his words have offended Jizō. Perhaps the old man was trying to place responsibility for his own failure upon the deity.

Jizō, from whom anger would be least expected, suddenly flies into a rage. The people who had come to worship him scatter in terror. A mother falls together with the child she had been carrying. She tumbles backwards, her geta fly from her feet, the child drops a small den-den daiko drum and strikes the ground face first. Nearby, a man clutches his head and tries to flee in panic.

The lower part of the composition refers to another saying - ‘I will not tell, but do not you tell either’. A person wishing to preserve a secret warns another: ‘I will say nothing myself, but if everything comes to light, it will be your fault’.

In reality, a secret often becomes known not because it was betrayed by the listener, but because the person who wished to conceal it accidentally let it slip. The expression ‘Jizō will not tell, but do not you tell either’ has the same meaning. The word ‘ware’ here means ‘you’ or ‘you yourself’. A person declares that someone else cannot be trusted, while failing to notice his own inability to keep silent.

Kyōsai connects this saying with the figure of Jizō. A young samurai has killed a man and suddenly realizes that the statue witnessed the crime. He seems to address Jizō: ‘I have no intention of boasting about this to anyone, so do not you say that you saw it either’. Yet if the crime is exposed, the most likely reason will be that the murderer himself has spoken about it somewhere.

It is unclear what is contained in the furoshiki bundle and the box tied with cord. The scene suggests that the young samurai killed the owner of these belongings and intended to steal them. The furoshiki bears a ‘cat within a circle’ emblem. Kyōsai sometimes added a cat to his signatures, so this mark was probably one of his playful personal emblems.