Sanzu-no-Kawa- Japanese LocationLocation · Landmark"River of Three Crossings"
Also known as: Sanzu-gawa and 三途の川
Titles & Epithets
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Description
The dead reach this river on the seventh day. How they cross depends on how they lived: the virtuous walk a bridge, and sinners drag themselves through deep water thick with serpents. On the near bank, an old woman named Datsueba strips the clothes from every soul that arrives.
Mythology & Lore
The Three Crossings
The dead reach the Sanzu River on the seventh day after death. Three paths cross its waters. The virtuous find a bridge. The ordinary wade a shallow ford. The wicked must struggle through the deepest current, where serpents coil in the water.
The Near Bank
A fearsome old woman named Datsueba waits on the near bank. She strips the clothes from the dead as they arrive. Her partner Ken'ēō hangs the garments on a riverside tree; their weight reveals the soul's sins. Beyond the river, Emma-ō and the ten kings of the underworld wait to judge the dead.
Children who die young are sent to Sai no Kawara, a stony riverbed nearby, where they stack pebbles into towers to earn merit for their parents. Oni knock the towers down. The children stack them again. Jizō watches over them.
Families prepared their dead for this crossing. Six coins, the rokudōsen, were placed with the body for the crossing fee. White burial garments and straw sandals went into the coffin for the road ahead.