Omijima Island Whale TombQinghai Whale Tomb

The whale tomb is a granite stone pagoda 2.4 meters high and 0.46 meters wide. On the front are inscribed the inscriptions "Kyo zetsu yujo yujo osho fujo-sho," "Karei shukunin ten doujyo fukkatsu," and "Namu amidabutsu," and on the side, "Imjin May, 5th year of Genroku (1688), Applicant: Shitara Magobei, Ikenaga Toemon, and Hayakawa Genemon. The value of whales was so high that "one whale caught would bring prosperity to 7ura," and the fishermen of the whale team risked their lives to get to the whales. However, when the fishermen saw a calf that had died in the womb of a mother whale that had been disemboweled, they felt compassion for it and built a tomb where they chanted sutras and respectfully buried it. The tombstone and the past records of the whale's death are still preserved at Mukigan-ji Temple. The gratitude and compassion of our ancestors for whales is still carried on in the annual traditional memorial service held by the local people, even a century after whaling was discontinued. More than 70 whale fetuses are buried in the vacant lot behind the graves, and the graves were designated as a national historic site in 1935.