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Jizo statues are a fascinating part of Japanese folklore. Often sighted near Buddhist temples, graveyards and sometimes on roadsides, they provide protection to travelers and the souls of children and unborn babies. They can be small and unassuming, with friendly faces like a classic Buddha, but sculpted more in the shape of a garden gnome. One such statue can be found in Sayama City on a small modern-day intersection; the statue and adjoining temple have been there for over 300 years, standing as a preserved relic of the Edo era, but the world around it has changed drastically. It sits awkwardly in the road, like a chunky doorstop that wedges open a portal between the past and present; Sayama resident and director Mitsuo Kurihara has built a strange, whimsical story around that very idea with his extravagantly-titled micro-budget feature film, “The Haunted Jizo of Shimo-Mizuno, Sayama City”.

“The Haunted Jizo of Shimo-Mizuno,...