Around Shoujin Pond in Moto-Hakone, many stone Buddhas and pagodas were built from the Kamakura period to the early Muromachi period about 700 years ago. Many of these stone Buddhas and pagodas have been designated as national important cultural properties as relics of the Buddhist Jizo faith of the Middle Ages. The surrounding area has also been designated as a national historic site. The stone Buddha statues and pagodas around Soujin Pond are characterized by the fact that they were built in a concentrated manner during the late Kamakura period. Most of them are carved in the image Jizo Bodhisattva, suggesting a deep relationship with the Jizo faith behind their construction. It was believed that Jizo Bodhisattva saved people who had fallen into hell and this place, which was feared as “hell,” also became a sacred place for the Jizo faith to comfort travelers.

As the poet Asukai Gayu (1241-1301) wrote when passing through the area, “There is a hell in this place,” it was regarded as a “hell” because of its steep terrain and desolate landscape at that time.

Many stonemasons are thought to have been mobilized for the construction of such large-scale stone Buddhas and pagodas. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the route along the Sukumo River was developed as the Tokaido Road, replacing the Yusaka road as the main route of passage through Hakone. After the middle of the Edo period, an increasing number of people began to travel off the highway to visit the seven hot springs in Hakone. As the stone Buddha group was close to Ashinoyu Onsen, more and more people visited this place during their stay. The stone Buddhas and pagodas became known as tourist attractions as they were also associated with the famous revenge story of the “Soga Brothers” which became a popular source of material for kabuki and noh dramas during the Edo period.

The stone Buddhas and pagodas are made of hard andesite, but after being exposed to the elements for a long time their surfaces have become weathered and worn or covered with moss. In addition, plant roots cause cracks in the rock and earthquakes and mudslides repeatedly caused the collapse of stone pagodas and the burial of Buddha images. The area has undergone renovation as a historical site with the building of a visitor gallery so that people can feel that this place was a sacred place for the Jizo faith of the past and that it can be passed onto the next generation.