卒塔婆- Sotoba

Sotoba: mortuary tablet, from Sanskrit stupa. A wooden lath placed upright behind the grave marker at some (depending on the sect) Buddhist temples. The death name of the individual, date of death, age, and so on are inscribed thereon. Notched, to evoke the shape of a 5-storied pagoda. I visited a nearby temple 墓場 today, recalling that sotoba were numerous there in the past, only to discover that nearly all had been removed (perhaps that is a year-end custom). Those I did find were not upright but on the ground. Somewhat forlorn, it was.