Before Izo arrived, Oyasama had uttered the following prediction,
“A carpenter will appear, will appear.”
Also, upon seeing Izo, Oyasama proclaimed:
“Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, the God of the eight directions, has been waiting. God is overjoyed that the greatest carpenter of Japan has arrived.”1
Continue reading The Life of the Honseki Izo Iburi, Part Two
Izo Iburi was born the fourth son of Bunyemon and Rei Iburi on 12/28/1833 (lunar calendar). In all, Izo’s mother Rei gave birth to seven children: eldest brother Shobei, elder sister Iye, elder brother Juhei, younger sister Ina, and younger brother Kumejiro. (The Iburis’ had a third son who died in infancy.) Izo grew up in the mountain village of Mukoji in Yamato (present day Nara Prefecture), some 20 kilometers southeast of Jiba. The surname “Iburi” (literally, “falling rice”) is thought to have come from the Iburi stone located in the mountains of Mukoji Village. Its name comes from a legend that claims when Emperor Shomu (reigned 724–749 A.D.) visited the area, rice fell from the heavens upon this stone.
Continue reading The Life of the Honseki Izo Iburi, Part One