Nagano Station and Princess Nyozehime statue, c. 1960. Nagano Station opened in 1888 on the Shin’etsu Line (née Naoetsu Line). Princess Nyozehime is affiliated with the origin of nearby Zenkoji Temple, and the station’s location facing the temple, 18 cho (about 2 km) distant, was dictated by the 18 vows of Amitabha, the celestial Buddha, enshrined in the nearby temple.
“There’s a statue of a woman named Princess Nyoze outside of Nagano Station. She’s smiling gently as she holds an offering in her hand.
“According to her story, Princess Nyoze was the daughter of a rich family in India, where she lived a comfortable life. However, one day she suffered from a terrible illness that brought her near to death. Her father tried to save her life. He called the doctor, prepared medicinal food, and did everything else in his power he could think of, but she wasn’t getting any better. After he’d gone through every imaginable approach, he decided to turn to spirituality and Buddhism as an absolute last resort. He was in no way a religious person, but he turned to Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, for salvation.
“Gautama answered the father, ‘Face west and chant the Nembutsu.’ Nembutsu is the three word invocation ‘Namu Amida Butsu.’ And that is exactly what he did. He quickly returned home to his daughter and started chanting the Nembutsu over and over until he fell into a trance.
“At one point he opened his eyes to find a bright light coming from the west, and Amitabha, the celestial Buddha, was there within the light that reached his daughter’s bedside. And just like that, Princess Nyoze recovered from her illness the very moment the light reached her.
“The statue of Princess Nyoze at Nagano Station is facing Zenkoji Temple as a sign of respect to Amitabha, who is enshrined there. This folktale encouraged the belief that Zenkoji was a temple that can save women.”
Princess Nyozehime statue outside Nagano Station and the Nagano Station Hotel, 2007.